Villas-Boas succeeds Spalletti at Zenit

André Villas-Boas is the man charged with succeeding Luciano Spalletti at FC Zenit, the Portuguese coach agreeing a deal that ties him to the Russian Premier League club until the end of the 2015/16 campaign.

"Mr Villas-Boas will be presented in St Petersburg as Zenit's new head coach on 20 March," read a club statement. Spalletti last week parted company with the Sine-Belo-Golubye after a four-year spell that brought two domestic titles, a Russian Cup and two appearances in the UEFA Champions League knockout stages. His tenure ended after a run of just one win in 11 competitive outings, including a 4-2 defeat by Borussia Dortmund in the first leg of their UEFA Champions League round of 16 tie. Former Russia midfielder Sergei Semak was placed in interim charge upon Spalletti's departure.

Zenit play Dortmund in Germany on Wednesday, with Villas-Boas set to be unveiled the following day, three months after leaving Tottenham Hotspur FC, where he was at the helm for 18 months. The 36-year-old started his coaching career at A. Académica de Coimbra before guiding FC Porto to a Liga, Portuguese Cup and UEFA Europa League treble in 2010/11. He fared less well in a subsequent stint at Chelsea FC, though two-and-a-half months after he departed, the Blues won the UEFA Champions League.