Nantes confirm Ranieri as new coach

"FC Nantes are delighted to announced the arrival of Claudio Ranieri," the club said on its website as the appointment of the 65-year-old Italian was made official.

Nantes received special dispensation from French league officials to hire the popular Ranieri as he had reached the manager's age limit of 65 last year.

"The negotiations were very, very swift," Nantes president Waldemar Kita told AFP earlier in the week, revealing Ranieri had travelled from Rome to Paris to meet him on Sunday.

Ranieri arrives just four months after being sacked by Leicester, whom he guided to a 5000-1 odds Premier League title in 2016.

But his second season was a disaster as the English team flirted with relegation and he was sacked in February, despite being through to the Champions League last 16.

The Italian already has experience of working in France having guided Monaco back to Ligue 1 in 2012/13 and then to second place behind Paris Saint-Germain the following season.

Nantes finished seventh in Ligue 1 last season but a week ago agreed to allow Portuguese coach Sergio Conceicao to return to his homeland and take over the reins at Porto.