Roberto Mancini to coach Russian club Zenit St. Petersburg

Mancini will replace Mircea Lucescu, who was fired after a year in charge. Zenit finished third in the Russian league, outside the Champions League qualifying places, under the Romanian coach.

Roberto Mancini has signed a three-year contract to coach Russian club Zenit St. Petersburg.

Roberto Mancini has signed a three-year contract to coach Russian club Zenit St. Petersburg. Mancini described his first job since leaving Inter Milan last August as “a new adventure” in comments on Twitter on Thursday.

“I’m very honoured to have been chosen as their coach,” he added.

Mancini will replace Mircea Lucescu, who was fired after a year in charge. Zenit finished third in the Russian league, outside the Champions League qualifying places, under the Romanian coach.

“That’s not a bad result but this team deserves better,” Mancini said in comments on the Zenit website. “I’m sure this season we’ll do the best that we can and we will definitely win trophies.”

Zenit said Mancini’s contract includes “the possibility of a two-year extension.”

The Italian joins amid a broader shake-up at Zenit, with a new chief executive and other changes of key backroom staff. Mancini is expected to join up with the team June 13, incoming CEO Sergei Fursenko said in comments reported by Russian news agencies.

Mancini won the English Premier League title with Manchester City in 2012, and won the Italian Serie A three times with Inter from 2006 through 2008.