Prandelli sets serious targets at Galatasaray

Former Italy coach Cesare Prandelli has become the new boss of Turkish giants Galatasaray AŞ, replacing compatriot Roberto Mancini who stepped down at the end of last season.

The 56-year-old Prandelli has signed a two-year contract with the Lions and said: "Our focus will be building a winning-minded team that plays nice football. Yesterday I visited the training facilities and saw that the staff are very professional. The fans, the coaching staff and everybody else needs to focus on the idea of building that team. We have a strong squad but they have to move in harmony to play decent team football. Our target is very clear – we want to win the domestic title and progress into the later stages of the UEFA Champions League."

Club president Ünal Aysal sees an additional aspect to Prandelli's work, explaining: "Galatasaray are Turkey's window onto Europe and we discussed with our new coach how we can open new horizons in that respect. Therefore our agreement involves a broader vision and targets in addition to winning trophies."

Prandelli will be renewing old friendships in Istanbul; midfielder Felipe Melo and the side's administrative coordinator Tomáš Ujfaluši both played under him at ACF Fiorentina while goalkeeping coach Claudio Taffarel was one of his charges at Parma FC.

Italy coach since 2010, Prandelli led the Azzurri to the final of UEFA EURO 2012 but resigned after his team failed to get beyond the group stage of this summer's FIFA World Cup. His former clubs as a coach include Atalanta BC, US Lecce, Hellas Verona FC, SSC Venezia, Parma, AS Roma and Fiorentina.

Runners-up in Turkey last term, Galatasaray start their 2014/15 UEFA Champions League campaign in the group stage.