Roma have confirmed the departure of head coach Luciano Spalletti after he guided them to a second-place finish behind Juventus in Serie A this season, amid reports he is set to take over at Inter Milan.
The move comes just two days after Spalletti faced boos when his name was read out before Francesco Totti's last match in a Roma shirt -- Sunday's 3-2 Serie A victory over Genoa.
Spalletti left 40-year-old Totti out of his first team for most of the season as Roma sealed an impressive second-placed finish in the league, four points behind champions Juventus.
Official: #ASRoma parts company with Luciano #Spalletti
Full story: https://t.co/Yz6QcuW0Tj pic.twitter.com/fCS07Fq907
- AS Roma English (@ASRomaEN) May 30, 2017
Spalletti joined Roma for a second spell as coach in January 2016, having won the Coppa Italia twice and Supercoppa once during his first stint with the Giallorossi between 2005 and 2009.
However, he said he would only stay if he delivered silverware this term and, although they achieved automatic qualification for the Champions League, he failed to achieve that objective.
Spalletti's contract in the capital was due to expire this summer and Roma are now commencing their search for a replacement, with Sassuolo's Eusebio Di Francesco reported as the favourite.
"We would like to place on record our sincere thanks to Luciano Spalletti for all of his hard work and the significant contribution he has made to the club since his return," Roma president James Pallotta said on the club's website.
"Under his stewardship this season, the team has won more Serie A points and scored more goals than any side in Roma's history. We wish Luciano all the best for the future.
"This club is on a constant path of growth and that will continue with the appointment of a new coach who shares our values and philosophy and who will continue to help us take AS Roma forward."
Spalletti is now expected to be named as the new coach of Inter, having said he has achieved all he was hired to do at Roma.
"I came back to Roma to finish my job, which has been done," he told Sportitalia. "This is the conclusion of it. Roma were in a horrible place and I've recreated the foundations [to build upon]. We may not have won anything, but to anybody who interprets this second place as a defeat, all I can say is we worked very hard to obtain this defeat.
"Certainly after seeing how they celebrated Totti yesterday, I can only imagine what it would have been like to win the Scudetto."
Spalletti will explain his departure and future plans at a news conference on Tuesday afternoon.
Information from the Press Association was used in this report.