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New Valencia coach Cesare Prandelli said he sought advice compatriot Claudio Ranieri before deciding to accept the "most difficult position" in Spain. Former Italy boss Prandelli signed a two-year contract with Valencia at the weekend, having not managed a team since leaving Galatasaray in November 2014. "Everyone has told me how passionate, how difficult, the most difficult position in Spain, and that is why I accepted," Prandelli said in an interview with Marca. "I was waiting for a big, stimulating and difficult challenge." Ranieri helped Prandelli decide to take the reins of a team that is second-bottom in La Liga with six points from seven games. Ranieri, who led Leicester City to the Premier League title last season, had two spells at Valencia, from 1997 to 1999 and in the 2004-05 campaign. He was dismissed in February 2005. Under Ranieri, Valencia won the UEFA Intertoto Cup in 1998, the Copa del Rey in 1999 and the UEFA Super Cup in 2004. Prandelli said: "He [Ranieri] told me that Valencia was a great challenge, that Valencia is a special city with demanding supporters and that it was a challenge that I should not turn down. "He spoke to me about the club, [saying] that the people here are demanding and have great expectations, which is understandable." Prandelli, 59, said at his unveiling this week that there were similarities with Valencia and Fiorentina, the Italian club at which he made a name for himself in the coaching profession. He guided the Viola to a fourth-place finish in Serie A and was named coach of the year in the 2007-08 campaign. He also steered them to a first-ever qualification for the round of 16 of the 2009-10 Champions League. Prandelli left Fiorentina to replace Italy's 2006 World Cup-winning coach Marcello Lippi and guided the Azzurri to a runners-up finish at Euro 2012. He resigned after Italy's disappointing first-round exit at the 2014 World Cup. He has no experience in La Liga but said: "We know the league well. We have watched it week after week. We know the players, the tactics. We know you can lose any game but also win." Prandelli is Valencia's ninth coach since 2012 and the fourth after Bruno Espirito Santo, Gary Neville and Pako Ayestaran since Singapore businessman Peter Lim took control in October 2014. "I also wanted to meet the owner before signing," Prandelli said. "He is responsible for the financial and sporting project. He told me that he had built important companies around the world through time. "We can take one year, two, but the aim is to take Valencia to become an important team in Europe. Right now we have to resolve problems like being second-bottom in the standings, take points to improve our position in the table. "We have to have our feet on the ground, focusing on what is real but having a bigger aim in our minds." Valencia started the season with Ayestaran, who had taken over from Gary Neville in March and led the team to a 12th-place finish last season. However, four straight defeats to start the 2016-17 campaign led to his exit. Valencia won two games under interim coach Voro but fell 2-0 at home to Atletico Madrid on Sunday, with Prandelli watching in the stands. Los Che have struggled in the scoring department with just nine goals in seven games. While Prandelli is aware that his club is likely to reinforce its attack in the winter transfer market, he said: "It would be a mistake to talk about future acquisitions because we first have to evaluate what we have. I'm thinking of improving what we have and once the market opens, have clear what our needs are."
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