Jose Mourinho has been appointed the new manager of AS Roma, the Italian club have announced on Twitter.

Mourinho had been out of work just 15 days, after being sacked by Tottenham Hotspur on 19 April. The Portuguese was dismissed after 17 months in charge at Spurs, following a poor second half of the season in which Spurs slipped from top of the table to outside the European spots.

The news comes as something of a surprise, after Mourinho told Time Magazine last week that he will ‘wait to be back in football’ following his Spurs departure.

Mourinho has a phenomenal record in Italy, having managed Inter Milan for two seasons between 2009 and 2011. He won consecutive league titles, one Italian Super Cup, one Italian Cup and one Champions League, before departing for Real Madrid.

The 58-year-old continued to win trophies after leaving Italy at Real Madrid before returning to the Premier League to win a league title with Chelsea and the Europa League with Manchester United.

Tottenham was the first post in his managerial career where he failed to lift any silverware, and was axed just before the north Londonders were set to face Manchester City in the League Cup Final. They went on to lose that fixture 2-0.