Giovanni Trapattoni has confirmed that he will officially become the new manager of Ivory Coast in the near future.

The Elephants have moved swiftly to replace Sabri Lamouchi, who resigned last week after failing to guide the team into the knockout stages of the World Cup.

Trappatoni was also approached by Morocco, but he has suggested that the opportunity to work with Didier Drogba was in his mind when he elected to take the offer from the Ivorian Football Federation.

"I'm going to become the new Ivory Coast coach; everything will be official in a couple of weeks," the 75-year-old told Rai Radio 2.

"Morocco offered me a job too but I took 48 hours for myself and eventually chose Ivory Coast. Drogba? He's a great player."

Trapattoni has been out of work since leaving his post as Republic of Ireland manager last September.

Written by
Callum Mulvihill