Ex-Chelsea and Schalke boss Roberto Di Matteo appointed Aston Villa manager

Roberto Di Matteo has been appointed as the new manager at recently relegated side Aston Villa, according to BBC Sport.

The Italian, who has been out of work since leaving Bundesliga side, Schalke, takes over the Birmingham outfit from Remi Garde, who was sacked back in March, prior to their relegation from the Premier League.

Villa will compete in the second-tier for the first time since the 1987-88 campaign, having propped up the top-flight last term.

Di Matteo, 46, will be assisted at Villa Park by Steve Clarke, his former teammate at Chelsea.

He returns to management in the English game for the first time in four years, when he previously led Chelsea to a Champions League triumph in May 2012, when they beat Bayern Munich on penalties at the Allianz Arena.

The Midlands-based club had been linked with David Moyes and the now Derby County manager Nigel Pearson, but Dr Tony Xia, the Chinese businessman who is close to taking over the club, has opted for Di Matteo, as the Villans’ look for an immediate return to the top division of English football.

Meanwhile, Clarke will take responsibility for Villa’s underachieving set of players, who will start life in the Championship on August 6.

Next season, Villa will face off against second-city neighbours, Birmingham City, in a first league encounter in five-years.