Paulo Sousa set to take over at Fiorentina

In a statement, Basel praised the Portuguese coach, who was only one third of the way through his contract, for his "meticulous" work and "unwavering consistency".

Italian media have linked him with a move to Fiorentina, where Vincenzo Montella was fired last week.

The former Portugal midfielder began his coaching career at Queen's Park Rangers in the English second division but was sacked after only six months after the club claimed he had divulged sensitive information.

He spent the 2009/10 season at Swansea City, once again in the Championship, just missing out on the play-offs, and left the club to be replaced by Brendan Rodgers. He moved to Leicester City where he was fired after three months.

That was followed by 18 months at Videoton in Hungary and one season Maccabi Tel Aviv where he won the Israeli league title at the first attempt.

After a difficult start, Sousa won the Basel fans over with his team's intense, attacking game. They also reached the last 16 of the Champions League at the expense of Liverpool.