Ravanelli takes over as coach at Ukraine's Arsenal Kiev

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June 22, 2018 1:12 PM

Former Juventus and Italy international striker Fabrizio Ravanelli was appointed as Arsenal Kiev manager, the Ukrainian club announced Friday.

The 49-year-old has signed a one-year contract and was unveiled at a press conference with the bosses of the club, which won promotion to the Ukrainian Premier League last season.

"I am grateful to Arsenal for the invitation. We are opening a new page of cooperation, which, I hope, will be long and fruitful," Ravanelli told the press.

No financial details of the deal were disclosed.

"My wife wasn't very happy with this, but she knows how important it is for me," Ravanelli said. "My three children understood it too."

Ravanelli promised attacking football.

"I want to bring attacking football and play 4-3-3," he told journalists as he landed at Kiev airport. "I want to bring my ideas and that means attacking football, like the sides I used to play in."

Over a 20-year playing career, which began and ended in his native Perugia, and took him to England, Scotland and France, Ravanelli won Italian Serie A titles with Juventus and Lazio as well as winning the Champions League and UEFA Cup. He also played 22 times for Italy scoring eight goals.

Ravanelli was a youth coach at Juventus for two years but his only experience running a team was a brief stint at Ajaccio in Ligue 1 in 2013 where he was fired at the start of November after winning only one of his 13 games in charge.

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