Andrea Pirlo played 164 times for Juventus during his playing career. (Source: File)

Juventus appointed former midfielder Andrea Pirlo as the new first-team head coach on Saturday hours after the sacking of his predecessor Maurizio Sarri.

The 41-year-old was appointed as the club’s U-23 head coach last month, and has secured a promotion before even taking charge of a single match with the Serie C outfit.

OFFICIAL ✍️ | Andrea Pirlo is the new coach of the First Team.https://t.co/riVxl1enbJ#CoachPirlo pic.twitter.com/pf9QRbJ6Ll

— JuventusFC (#Stron9er 🏆🏆🏆🏆🏆🏆🏆🏆🏆) (@juventusfcen) August 8, 2020

“Andrea Pirlo will be the new Juventus coach. In his four years at the helm of Juventus midfield, Pirlo has won as many league titles, an Italian Cup, and two Super Cups,” a club statement said.

“Today begins a new chapter of his career in the world of football. As it was said about a week ago: from Maestro to Mister. From today he will be the Coach for the Juventus people, as the club has decided to entrust him with the technical leadership of the first team, after having already selected him for Juventus Under23.”

Pirlo, who has never managed before, either at youth or senior level, signed a two-year contract with the club until 30 June 2022.

The former Bianconeri midfielder returns to the Old Lady having played for the club between 2011 and 2015. During his time in Turin, Pirlo won four straight Serie A titles.

Pirlo’s playing career ended in 2017 after a three-year spell at MLS side New York City FC, after which he began preparing for a career in coaching.