Sassuolo have appointed Roberto D'Aversa as their new head coach, moving swiftly to replace Alberto Aquilani after a run of five straight Serie A defeats left the club one point above the relegation zone.

The club confirmed the appointment on Tuesday 10 November, a day after Aquilani was dismissed following Sunday's 3-0 defeat at Roma. According to the official club statement, D'Aversa has signed a contract until 30 June 2027 and took charge of his first training session on Tuesday afternoon.

D'Aversa handed a relegation fight

Sassuolo sit 17th in Serie A with eight points from 11 matches, having taken just one point from their last seven games. They have conceded 29 goals already this season, and the defeat in Rome proved the final straw for a board that had backed Aquilani only in the summer.

Aquilani was appointed in June for his first job in Serie A, having previously coached Pisa and Catanzaro in Serie B. The former Liverpool and Roma midfielder could not turn Sassuolo's form around, and his departure makes Sassuolo the sixth Serie A club to change coach this season, after Udinese, Venezia, Fiorentina, Bologna and Parma.

Experience of survival battles

D'Aversa, 51, arrives with a reputation built on exactly this kind of assignment. He is best known for taking Parma from Serie C to Serie A in consecutive seasons, and he has also managed Sampdoria, Lecce and Empoli. His most recent job was at Torino, where he took over in February and turned the club's season around to save them from relegation before leaving in the summer.

He has also known the other side of a relegation battle, having gone down with both Empoli and Parma. He was dismissed by Lecce in March 2024 after headbutting an opposition player, for which Serie A handed him a four-match ban.

D'Aversa replaced Marco Baroni at Torino in February and turned their season around before leaving in the summer, when Ignazio Abate took over. At Sassuolo, his first task will be to tighten a defence that has already conceded 29 goals in 11 league games, starting with the visit of Genoa after the international break.

D'Aversa will be assisted by Salvatore Sullo, and he will be presented to the media at the Mapei Football Center on Thursday at 12:30 CET. His first match in charge comes after the international break, at home to Genoa on Sunday 22 November, with Sassuolo desperate for a first win since September to climb away from the bottom three.