Swansea City have appointed former Udinese manager Francesco Guidolin as their new head coach.

The Italian will have the final say on selection while working alongside Alan Curtis until the end of the season.

Swansea, who

sacked Garry Monk

last month, are 18th in the Premier League ahead of Monday’s game with Watford.

Guidolin, 60, will be at the Liberty Stadium for the match but will only have a “watching brief”, Swansea said in a statement.

The south Wales club placed Curtis in caretaker charge after Monk’s departure and then announced on 7 January that the 61-year-old would

continue

as interim manager until the end of the season.

But after Swansea’s 4-2 home loss to relegation rivals Sunderland, Curtis said he would be

willing to step aside

if the club found a new boss before the end of the campaign.

Why turn to Guidolin?

Guidolin has managed several clubs in Italy dating back to the late 1980s, including Palermo and Parma, as well as French league side Monaco.

He took charge of Serie A side Udinese over two spells, first in the late 1990s and then a stint from 2010 to 2014.

Udinese finished third in Serie A under Guidolin in 2012, equalling the club’s best ever season in the Italian top flight.

He also achieved promotions with Parma, Palermo and Vicenza, and led the latter to an unlikely victory in the Coppa Italia in 1997.

After Monk’s departure, chairman Huw Jenkins

travelled to South America

to step up his search for a new boss, with Marcelo Bielsa bookmakers’ favourite for the role.

Speaking earlier in January, Jenkins told BBC Wales Sport that finding a long-term replacement for Monk had “not been easy”.

“We’ve spoken to a lot of potential managers,” he added. “Some didn’t want to leave the clubs they were at this late stage in the season, while others didn’t want to put their reputation on the line by joining a club at the wrong end of the table.”

What next?

Swansea host Watford in the Premier League on Monday, before travelling to Everton on Sunday 24 January.

Having been

knocked out

of the FA Cup by League Two Oxford, Swansea do not have a fixture over the final weekend of January.

They then travel to West Bromwich Albion on Tuesday 2 February before back-to-back home games against Crystal Palace and Southampton.

Reaction

Before the announcement of Guidolin’s appointment, former Wales and Everton captain Kevin Ratcliffe told BBC Wales Sport: “I would have hoped they would bring someone, in some sort of capacity.

“I’m not saying Alan hasn’t done a good job but other results have put them in a really perilous position.

“Two points from safety, the game against Watford becomes a very, very important game. They can’t afford to be dropping points.

“It’s not just another coach that’s going to get you out of the position Swansea are in. It’s got to be better players that what they’ve got.”