Brazilian club Corinthians have announced the appointment of Dutchman Clarence Seedorf as the team's new manager, succeeding Fernando Diniz, who has left his post.
According to the newspaper AS, Seedorf has put pen to paper on a deal that runs until December 2027.
He inherits a dressing room on the floor, with Corinthians scrapping for their top-flight lives.
Speaking to his new club's website, Seedorf said: "Accepting this challenge is a great honour, but it is also an enormous responsibility. I am here to give everything I have, and to build a team that fights for every ball, every minute and every victory."
Nobody saw this one coming. The Milan legend's name barely registered among the leading candidates and he was missing from almost every shortlist going.
Corinthians had sounded out Sebastian Beccacece, Ramon Diaz, Juan Pablo Vojvoda, Cariel, Luis Zubeldia, Sylvinho and even Javier Mascherano. It is the Dutchman, though, who now carries the job of keeping them in the first division.
He is due in Sao Paulo within days alongside his new coaching staff. William Batista is expected to take the bench for the match against Palmeiras.
Seedorf watched Real Madrid take on Villarreal at the Santiago Bernabeu, and he now has only a matter of hours to pack his bags and get ready for the new assignment.
This is the worst crisis Corinthians have known in their modern history, and it comes only months after they lifted the Brazilian Cup and the Super Cup.
Money is at the root of it. The club are stagnating, with debts running into the millions owed to players, Memphis Depay among them, and to other clubs.
Results have fallen well short this season too. The team sit 16th, one point above the drop zone, and Estudiantes knocked them out of the Copa Libertadores in a controversial tie. They have gone out of the Cup as well.