Aurelio Andreazzoli has been named new coach of Empoli.
Andreazzoli takes charge after this morning's sacking of Paolo Zanetti. It is his third spell at the helm of Empoli.
Zanetti lost his job after Sunday's 7-0 thrashing by AS Roma.
Empoli announced today:
"Empoli Football Club announces that it has entrusted the technical leadership of the first team to Aurelio Andreazzoli. The coach has signed an annual contract with an option for a further season.
"Aurelio Andreazzoli was born in Massa on 5 November 1953. He began coaching in 1985 in Orrione (Second Category) and then moved to Ortonovo, taking the team from Second Category to Promotion. At the beginning of the nineties he moved first to Pietrasanta, in Promotion, and then to Castelnuovo Garfagnana in Eccellenza. He later led the Lucchese Primavera for two seasons and then Massese in C1.
"In 1996 he arrived at Fiorentina, where he first led the Allievi and then the Primavera. Andreazzoli will also coach Tempio, Aglianese, Grosseto and Alessandria. In the summer of 2003 he became a collaborator of Luciano Spalletti at Udinese, then following him to Roma. He left the Giallorossi club in September 2009 to return in February two years later to continue to cover the role of technical collaborator, working first with Vincenzo Montella, then with Luis Enrique and Zdenek Zeman.
"On 2 February 2013, after the Bohemian's dismissal, he was entrusted with the leadership of the team, where he remained until the end of the season and then returned to the role of collaborator, first with Rudi Garcia and later, again, with Spalletti.
"In December 2017 he was called up by Empoli, leading the Azzurri to promotion to Serie A: Andreazzoli won the Serie B championship with five matchdays to spare. In the following season he came close to being saved in the top flight, finishing the championship with 38 points, the same as Genoa, but relegated only due to direct clashes. After a parenthesis with Genoa in the following season, in the summer of 2021 Andreazzoli returns to guide Empoli in Serie A. Under his management the Azzurri achieved salvation three matchdays early, scoring 41 points. Aurelio Andreazzoli's last experience was last season on the bench of Ternana."
