Erik ten Hag, dubbed the "crown prince" of Dutch football, was named as the new coach of Ajax Amsterdam on Thursday following the sacking of Marcel Keizer, the iconic club announced.
"Ajax and Utrecht (Ten Hag's current club) have reached an agreement concerning the transfer of Erik ten Hag to Ajax," said a statement.
"Ten Hag will sign a contract for two and a half years and will start on January 1."
Ten Hag, 47, manager at Utrecht since May 2015, is seen as "the crown prince of the Dutch football manager fraternity," popular daily tabloid De Telegraaf said when revealing the deal last week.
Keizer only took charge at Ajax last June after the departure of Peter Bosz for Borussia Dortmund.
He was coach for just 174 days and presided over a string of disappointing losses by the Dutch giants.
Not only did they fail to qualify from the preliminary rounds of either the Champions League or the Europa League but also crashed out of the Dutch Cup last week, losing on penalties to FC Twente following a 1-1 draw.
Ajax are currently second in the Dutch league, five points behind PSV Eindhoven.
Assistant coach Dennis Bergkamp was also axed.
Ten Hag played as a midfielder for Ajax between 1989 and 2002 and was voted coach of the year in 2016.
He has also worked as assistant coach at Bayern Munich.
