Fulham have announced the appointment of Claudio Ranieri as their new manager after sacking Slavisa Jokanovic.

Jokanovic oversaw Fulham's return to the Premier League for the first time since 2013-14, but his side have made a poor start to the season despite investment of around £100m for new players during the summer.

The Cottagers have lost their last seven games across all competitions, including six in the league to leave them bottom of the table and three points from safety.

Fulham confirmed Jokanovic's sacking and the appointment of Ranieri in the same statement, with the Italian signing a "multi-year contract" at Craven Cottage.

The deal sees Ranieri return to the Premier League for the first time since being sacked by Leicester City in 2017, just a year after leading them to the title against 5,000-1 odds.

"It is an honour to accept Mr Khan's invitation and opportunity to lead Fulham, a fantastic club with tradition and history. The objective at Fulham should never be to merely survive in the Premier League," Ranieri told the club's official website.

"We must at all times be a difficult opponent and should expect to succeed. This Fulham squad has exceptional talent that is contrary to its position in the table. I know this team is very capable of better performances, which we will work on straight away as we prepare for Southampton at the Cottage."

Fulham chairman Shahid Khan added: "I wasn't anticipating having to make this announcement related to Slavisa and wish the circumstances were such that I didn't have to, but our path this season has led me to make what I know is the correct decision, at the right time, for our players, the club and our supporters.

"Slavisa will always have my appreciation and respect for everything he did to return Fulham to top-flight football. I am hoping everyone in the Fulham Family shares my heartfelt sentiments for Slavisa and joins me in wishing him success and good fortune, wherever his next stop may be.

"Making a change without having the right answer or succession plan was not an option, so having someone of Claudio's calibre ready to accept our challenge was comforting but, most of all, essential. Claudio is risk-free and ready-made for the Premier League, and particularly so for what we need at this moment at Fulham.

"His recent body of work with Leicester City is literally legendary, and then you look at Claudio's experience with Chelsea and big clubs throughout Europe, and it's pretty evident we are welcoming an extraordinary football man to Fulham Football Club."

Fulham confirmed that they spoke to "a number of potential candidates" before sacking Jokanovic and choosing Ranieri, who previously managed the club's local rivals Chelsea.

Ranieri's first game in charge will come against Southampton on November 24, before facing two of his former clubs - Chelsea and Leicester - in succession.