Hernan Crespo has made a swift return to management with Brazilian side Sao Paulo.

Earlier in the week Crespo vacated his post at Argentinian outfit Defensa y Justicia, amid speculation that he was set to replace manager Fernando Diniz at Sao Paulo, with the latter sacked following a seven game winless run.

Former Everton boss Marco Silva and ex-Chelsea manager Andre Villas-Boas were also reportedly in the mix for the job, however it’s Crespo who has put pen to paper to sign a two-year contract.

Crespo got his first taste of coaching at Parma U19s, before taking the manager’s job at Serie B side Modena, where he failed to inspire a transformation and was sacked within a year with the club struggling in a relegation scrap.

His next post took him back to his homeland Argentina with top-flight side Banfield, but once again he failed to see out a year at the helm, as he lost his job after nine months.

However, Crespo was offered a route back into management with Defensa y Justicia where he created history last month when he led his troops to Copa Sudamericana glory - the South American equivalent of the Europa League - which was the club’s first ever international trophy.

Former Chelsea striker Crespo, who played under the likes of Marcelo Bielsa, Jose Mourinho and Carlo Ancelotti, will now be targeting more silverware in Brazil at Sao Paulo, who are currently 4th in Brazilian Série A; seven points behind leaders Internacional, albeit with a game in hand on the three teams above them.

São Paulo, who have the likes of Dani Alves and Juanfran in their ranks, haven’t won the league title since a hat-trick of successes between 2006 and 2008 under the tutorship of boss Muricy Ramalho.

“I like the team management of Ancelotti, to be very close to the players personally,” Crespo said previously back in 2018 when asked about what he’d learnt from previous managers. “The methodology of Mourinho and the personal development and improvement of the individual players like Bielsa.”