Inter Milan appointed former Napoli boss Walter Mazzarri as its new coach on Friday after sacking Andrea Stramaccioni following a disappointing ninth-place finish in Serie A.

The 2010 Champions League winner has suffered a series of blows and gone through five coaches since its unprecedented treble under Jose Mourinho.

"FC Internazionale would like to thank Andrea Stramaccioni for the great commitment and professionalism he showed in a particularly difficult year. Walter Mazzarri has signed a two-year deal," the club said on its website (www.inter.it).

The usually fast-paced Italian managerial merry-go-round has gone into overdrive since the end of the season.

Media reports say Chelsea interim manager Rafael Benitez is poised to join Napoli while AC Milan boss Massimiliano Allegri is clinging to his job and AS Roma is without a permanent coach.

The Gazzetta dello Sport website said Mazzarri, who announced his departure from Napoli after its 2-1 loss at Roma in its last game of the season on Sunday, has signed a deal worth 3.5 million euros ($4.53 million) a year.

The 51-year-old took Napoli to second place in Serie A this season and re-established it as a force in Italian soccer over his four-year spell in charge. It also won the Italian Cup last year.

"We needed to make this change because this year will be difficult and I thought that there was a need for a manager with the experience of Mazzarri," Inter president Massimo Moratti told reporters on Friday.

"That doesn't change the fact that I have a high regard for the talent and potential of Stramaccioni and I'm convinced he will become one of the best Italian managers.

"He's been very unlucky recently and maybe right now he needs to go somewhere easier than Inter, and with the year he's had he will find somewhere."

Reports of Mazzarri replacing Stramaccioni have been in Italian media for days.

The 37-year-old Stramaccioni surprisingly stepped up from managing Inter's youth setup to take charge of the first team last March following the sacking of Claudio Ranieri.

Early this season Inter looked to be a title challenger and a run of seven straight wins finished with it ending Juventus' 49-match unbeaten streak and moving a point behind the league leader.

However, it finished in ninth place on 54 points after winning only five games after the mid-season break and ended the campaign with 16 defeats.

(China Daily 05/26/2013 page7)