Capello Confirmed As England Coach

The Football Association have confirmed Fabio Capello as the new England manager on a four-and-a-half-year deal until the summer of 2012. The news was revealed 48 hours after Capello agreed in principle to lead the Three Lions, with the decision being ratified by the FA Board on Thursday. Final negotiations between the FA and Capello's advisors have now been completed and the former Juventus, AC Milan and Real Madrid coach will begin work on January 7.

"I am delighted that Fabio Capello has agreed to become England manager," said FA chief executive Brian Barwick. "When we set out to recruit the new manager, we said we were committed to appointing a world-class candidate. In Fabio Capello we have that man. "Fabio is a winner. His record over the last two decades speaks for itself. "At every club he has managed Fabio has won the league title and Sir Trevor Brooking and I were left in no doubt of his passion and commitment to bring that success to the England team."

Capello will officially be unveiled in central London on Monday, just under four weeks after McClaren was sacked following England's dismal failure to reach Euro 2008. The 61-year-old made his desire to take the job known almost immediately and was quickly installed as the number one candidate once former Chelsea boss Jose Mourinho backed out of the running at the weekend. Capello's standing in the game mean his services come at a price. His estimated £6.5million annual salary dwarfs the amount Sven-Goran Eriksson commanded, although, if he delivers what the FA feel he is capable of, it will be money well spent.

Capello's contract takes in not just the 2010 World Cup qualifiers but the campaign to reach Euro 2012 as well. His first official game in charge will be against Switzerland at Wembley on February 6. "Fabio Capello is widely recognised as one of the world's finest coaches," said FA director of football development Sir Trevor Brooking, who has worked closely with Barwick throughout the consultation process. "He has achieved huge success wherever he has worked and has the respect of everyone in football.

"Fabio will have the full support of the FA and its coaching set-up. We are excited about working with him over the coming years as we focus on qualification for the 2010 World Cup in South Africa." Capello will liaise with Brooking over the installation of an English presence within a coaching team which has already been confirmed will include assistants Franco Baldini and Italo Galbiati, goalkeeping coach Franco Tancredi and fitness coach Massimo Neri.

FA director of communications Adrian Bevington insisted Capello is willing to appoint an Englishman within his backroom team. "Fabio is very, very open and happy to include an English coach - or English coaches - within his staff," he said on Sky Sports News. "The key point is that that is something we don't have to rush into.

"People should not get too hung up on the fact there is no English coach on the staff at the moment." Bevington confirmed Capello's expected arrival early next week. "He will fly in to hold a press conference on Monday afternoon at 1pm, here in London,'' he said.

Asked whether Capello was merely the FA's first choice after Mourinho ruled himself out, Bevington said: "You can see he is our number one choice because he has been appointed manager, it is only three weeks since the Croatia game."Fabio Capello is the only manager we actually met with, we have been in conversation with Fabio's people or the best part of two and a half weeks, in the same way that we were speaking with other potential managers' advisors.

"We are very pleased with the process here. We feel it has been conducted in a very business-like manner over a reasonably sensible time period. "There was no reason to wait around when we had a manager of such calibre as Fabio Capello available to us and he was very keen to come and talk to us. "We're delighted with the way things have gone, it's a great end to the week that we can announce that he is the manager."

Asked about language barriers during negotiations, Bevington said: "All talks with Fabio Capello were generally conducted in English."