Former Chelsea and Tottenham boss Andre Villas-Boas has been named as Ligue 1 side Olympique Marseille’s new manager, Bestchoicesports.com.ng understands.

The 41-year-old Portuguese coach will replace Rudi Garcia at Stade Velodrome after guiding the Phocaeans to a fifth-place finish in Ligue 1 campaign.

Villas-Boas has been out of a job since he left Shanghai SIPG in November 2017, after a year at the club during which he led them to the runners-up position in the Chinese Super League and the Chinese FA Cup, as well as to the semi-finals of the Asian Champions League.

Marseille announced Villas-Boas’ appointment Tuesday with a tweet reading: “Our new era has begun.”

The club’s American owner Frank McCourt told om.net: “We are delighted to hire a coach whose success is recognised at the highest level in Europe and worldwide.

“Villas-Boas’ philosophy and approach to the game aligns with what we want for OM and will help revitalise our project after a disappointing campaign.

“Our expectations are still great and we are making the necessary changes to achieve our goals.”

Villas-Boas was a former assistant to Jose Mourinho at Porto, with whom he would later win the Europa League as manager before coaching Chelsea, Tottenham, Zenit St Petersburg and he took a break from football to compete in the 2018 Dakar Rally but withdrew early after crashing his car during a stage in Peru.