Giovanni Trapattoni has been appointed to succeed Matthias Sammer as coach of Bundesliga side Stuttgart next season.
The veteran coach has signed a two-year deal with Stuttgart, the club confirmed. It will be his third spell in Germany, after twice being in charge at Bayern Munich.
Trapattoni stepped down as Benfica coach at the end of May after steering them to their first Portuguese championship in 11 years.
He said then that he wanted to return to Italy to be with his family, but the prospect of a return to the Bundesliga was good much for him to resist.
Benfica’s title was his ninth league title in a long career with several European clubs, including six with Italy’s Juventus. He has won three UEFA Cups, a Cup Winners’ Cup and secured Juventus’s first European Cup triumph in 1985.
He was appointed Italy manager in 2000, but the side were eliminated by South Korea in the second round of the 2002 World Cup and failed to get past the group stage in Euro 2004.
