Claudio Ranieri is back in the Premier League after Fulham sacked manager Slaviša Jokanović and replaced him with Leicester City’s Premier League winning manager.

The Tinkerman, everyone’s favourite footballing granddad, Claudio Ranieri has returned to England just over 18 months since he was sacked as manager of Leicester City.

Fulham have had a poor start to their first season back in the Premier League, after gaining promotion through the Championship play-offs last season and have sacked Slaviša Jokanović.

The Cottagers lost to Liverpool at the weekend but the previous results likely had a bigger bearing on the decision with the west London side sitting bottom of the league with just one win, having conceded more goals than anyone.

In a statement the club said, “Shahid Khan, Chairman of Fulham Football Club, today announced that he has appointed Claudio Ranieri as Manager of Fulham Football Club, replacing Slaviša Jokanović.

“Ranieri, who led Leicester City to the Premier League title in 2016, was given a multi-year contract to lead Fulham, who currently sit at the bottom of the table with five points from 12 matches. Fulham’s next match is Saturday 24th November versus Southampton at Craven Cottage.”

Things had been going dreadfully for Jokanovic. Image: PA Images

On his appointment the former Chelsea manager said, “It is an honour to accept Mr. Khan’s invitation and opportunity to lead Fulham, a fantastic club with tradition and history.

“The objective at Fulham should never be to merely survive in the Premier League. We must at all times be a difficult opponent and should expect to succeed. This Fulham squad has exceptional talent that is contrary to its position in the table. I know this team is very capable of better performances, which we will work on straight away as we prepare for Southampton at the Cottage.”

Ranieri’s time at Leicester didn’t end well but he did win the Premier League. Image: PA Images

After the international break and his opening match against Southampton the 67 year old will be back around very familiar surroundings and opposition as the team heads to Chelsea and then a home game against Leicester.

Chairman Shahid Khan said, “Claudio is risk-free and ready-made for the Premier League, and particularly so for what we need at this moment at Fulham,” an interesting take indeed. No manager is ‘risk free’ and Ranieri never saved Leicester from relegation.

The Italian will likely get some defensive structures in place before anything else as that’s where Fulham have been severely lacking so far this season.

It’s good to have Ranieri back in the Premier League.