Schalke have confirmed they have sacked Jens Keller and replaced him with former Chelsea boss Roberto Di Matteo.

The German outfit are 11th in the Bundesliga table, nine points behind league leaders Bayern Munich and only three points above Hamburg, who sit in the relegation zone.

While it is only early days in the season, Schalke decided to cut ties with Keller after just two wins from seven games.

They are also third in their Champions League group after two draws, including a 1-1 draw with Di Matteo’s former club Chelsea.

The former midfielder has been appointed the club’s new head coach after a two-year absence from the game. He led his former club to Champions League glory in 2012 when they beat Bayern on penalties at the Allianz Arena.

Di Matteo had originally replaced former boss Andre Villas-Boas in March 2012 and he was rewarded with a permanent deal that summer. However, after signing a new two-year deal he was sacked in November after a 3-0 defeat to Juventus in the Champions League.

The 44-year-old started his managerial career at MK Dons but he moved to West Brom where he guided them to automatic promotion from the Championship.

He will have to turn Schalke’s fortunes around quickly with some difficult games coming up. The Royal Blues, 7.50 to top Group G in the Champions League, will face Hertha Berlin, Sporting Lisbon twice, Bayer Leverkusen and Augsburg in their next five games.