Sampdoria have appointed former Lazio and Inter Milan midfielder Dejan Stankovic as their new head coach.

The former Red Star Belgrade head coach has signed a contract until 2023 with the option to extend for an extra year and will replace Marco Giampaolo, who was sacked following their 3-0 loss to Monza, after a poor start to the new Bundesliga season.

In December 2019, Stankovic was appointed the manager of Serbian giants Red Star Belgrade and led the team to an unbeaten run throughout the 2020-21 season. He won 35 matches out of 38 with the team scoring a record-breaking 114 goals.

The 44-year-old resigned as the manager of Red Star Belgrade in August 2022 after failing to qualify for the UEFA Champions League group stage.

On appointing Stankovic, a statement read: “On behalf of president Marco Lanna, the board of directors and everyone at the club, we would like to wish our new coach the best of luck in the job.”

The Serbian was appointed after Claudio Ranieri turned down Sampdoria approaches to become their new coach.