(Reuters) - Former Chelsea and Tottenham Hotspur boss Andre Villas-Boas has been named as the head coach of Olympique de Marseille on a two-year contract, the Ligue 1 club said on Tuesday.
Portuguese Villas-Boas, 41, will replace Rudi Garcia, who departed after the club finished a disappointing fifth in the league to miss out on qualifying for the Champions League.
Villas-Boas has been out of a job since he left Chinese Super League side Shanghai SIPG in November 2017. In one year at the club, he led them to runners-up finishes in the league and the Chinese FA Cup, as well as to the semi-finals of the Asian Champions League.
After beginning his coaching career as an assistant to Jose Mourinho, Villas-Boas made his breakthrough by guiding Porto to a treble, which included the 2011 Europa League crown.
His managerial stint with Chelsea lasted less than 12 months before he joined Spurs where he was sacked after 1-1/2 seasons.
He did not win any silverware with the London clubs but helped Zenit St Petersburg claim the Russian Premier League in 2015 and then the Russian Cup the following year.
(Reporting by Hardik Vyas in Bengaluru; Editing by David Holmes and Christian Radnedge)