Former Leeds United sporting director Nicola Salerno has been confirmed as the new director of football at Serie A club Palermo.
Salerno worked under Massimo Cellino at Leeds and helped to push a number of deals over the line for the Yorkshire giants, including the arrival of centre-back Sol Bamba, one of his final acts at Elland Road.
He is perhaps better known for a player he missed out on though, having aggressively driven Leeds' pursuit of striker Leonardo Pavelotti, who eventually opted against joining the Whites; the striker has this month joined Napoli for €18m, with his career having taken off in Italy's top flight.
Now Salerno has headed back to his native Italy.
"US Citta di Palermo announces that Nicola Salerno is the new director of football", the Serie A club confirmed.
relatedNewsStory
"The director has signed a contract for a year and a half."
Salerno is walking into a tough situation at Palermo as the club sit third from bottom in Serie A, inside the relegation zone, and have picked up just ten points from 20 games.
Palermo, who have had issues putting the ball in the back of the net and keeping it out at the other end, are nine points from safety.
