Claudio Ranieri has said that he is excited by the challenge of getting Monaco back into Ligue 1.

The Italian took over at Les Rouge et Blanc after being approached by their new billionaire Russian owner Dmitry Rybolovlev.

Monaco were relegated from the top flight last year and Ranieri has been charged with the task of transforming the club into Ligue 1 title contenders.

"I was pleasantly surprised by the president's proposal", said Ranieri. "I really like the idea of building a team and getting up.

"I've not been down in a second tier for some time and I find this a very exciting challenge. The project is ambitious and wide ranging."

The 60-year-old was sacked as manager of Inter Milan in March.