Former Tottenham Hotspur manager Harry Redknapp has agreed to take up the director of football role at English Championship side Derby County.
Redknapp has been out of a job since leaving Queens Park Rangers last February and will work alongside Derby manager Darren Wassall, who took over from Paul Clement who was sacked last month.
"The call from Derby came completely out of the blue but this is an exciting challenge and hopefully, we can finish the season in the playoff final at Wembley," he told The Express. "I know the Championship, I know how difficult it can be and my experience will hopefully prove invaluable."
The move came as a surprise, after Redknapp's comments in November that the role of director of football at clubs is a questionable one and is something that creates unnecessary pressure on the manager.
"I never thought I'd become a director of football but my role at Derby is completely different and it is only going to run until the end of the season, when I hope we will all be celebrating promotion back to the Premier League," Redknapp added.
"I won't be pushing players onto the manager, or having anything to do with signings and it is all about helping Darren.
"I'll be doing a few days a week to assist with the coaching and I'll be someone the manager can bounce ideas off. Management can be a lonely job, especially when it's your first position, and I am here to help in any way I can.
"The chairman, Mel Morris, called me at 7.30 on Sunday night and I drove up on Monday morning to speak to him. I like what he had to say and it was important to me that the manager had no issues with me coming in,
"Derby are an ambitious club with fantastic facilities and it was an opportunity I couldn't turn down."
Derby, who sit in fifth place on 61 points are in contention for a playoff spot. Their next game will be on March. 19 against Nottingham Forest at Pride Park Stadium.