Garcia's latest effort in management at Napoli was an unsuccessful five-month stint in 2023 during the club's disastrous post-Scudetto winning season.

Napoli continued their struggles on home turf with Sunday's shock 1-0 defeat to Empoli which left the Serie A champions already well off the pace in this season's title race.

Ex-Roma boss Garcia, 59, takes over from Luciano Spalletti who left his position after guiding the southern club to their first Scudetto in 33 years.

Cristiano Ronaldo will serve his suspension before making his league debut for his new Saudi Arabian club Al Nassr but he could play against Paris St Germain in a friendly this month, coach Rudi Garcia has said.

Cristiano Ronaldo's new club coach Rudi Garcia on Sunday compared the Portuguese star's arrival at Al-Nassr in Saudi Arabia to Pele's signing with the New York Cosmos in 1975.