Carlo Ancelotti has turned down the opportunity to return to coach AC Milan next season, the Serie A club have announced on Tuesday.
The former Real Madrid coach had held talks with Milan's general manager Adriano Galliani in Madrid last week, but after taking a few days to consider the offer, he called Galliani on Tuesday night to say he was turning him down.
Instead, the 55-year-old is expected to take a one-year break from the game to cure a long-standing back problem. He is due to undergo surgery in Vancouver later this week.
"Carlo Ancelotti has informed Milan that he cannot be the coach of the Rossoneri first team next season," read a statement on acmilan.com.
Thanks to @acmilan for their support interest. It was hard to say no to such beloved club to me but I need some rest. I wish them the best
- Carlo Ancelotti (@MrAncelotti) June 2, 2015
Ancelotti led Milan to two Champions League titles in an eight-year spell before going on to win trophies with Chelsea, Paris Saint-Germain and Real.
He was relieved of his duties in Madrid last weekend after failing to win the Primera Division and missing out on a successful defence of their Champions League title.
Milan will now pursue other avenues in their search for a new coach, while it has not been totally excluded that current coach Filippo Inzaghi, who still has a year left to run on his contract, will be confirmed in his position.
He and former coach Clarence Seedorf are still on the wage bill until 2016. The other candidates are believed to be Sinisa Mihajlovic, who stepped down as coach of Sampdoria on Monday, or Cristian Brocchi, who would be following the same path as Inzaghi by being promoted from the youth team to the first team if he were to be installed.