Amsterdam football club Ajax have signed Peter Bosz as their new coach to replace Frank de Boer who announced earlier this month he is stepping down after 5.5 years.

Bosz, who had been tipped for the job, has signed a three year deal with Ajax and will start work at the end of June. He is currently coach at Israeli club Maccabi Tel Aviv which he joined at the beginning of this year from Vitesse Arnhem.

‘This is a great moment for me as a coach,’ Bosz said in a reaction to his new job. ‘I’ve never hidden my ambition to work for a top Dutch club… I am extremely ambitious and so is Ajax.’

Ajax director Edwin van der Sar said Bosz will be able to make the club’s ‘talented pool of players even better’. ‘The clubs he trains play technical and attacking football. That fits well with Ajax.’

De Boer announced his departure after Ajax failed to beat relegation candidate De Graafschap on the last day of the season and so lost the league title to PSV.