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Cape Town - Everton manager Carlo Ancelotti has laid out his plans for the club, saying he wants to stay near the top of the Premier League and "be competitive in Europe".
Ancelotti was sensationally appointed as Toffees boss on Saturday following a week of speculation.
In what can be regarded as a real coup for the Merseysiders, he penned a four-and-a-half-year deal at Goodison Park after severing his contract with Serie A outfit Napoli.
It marks a return to English football for the 60-year-old Italian after enjoying a successful two-year period as Chelsea manager between 2009 and 2011.
Everton have struggled this season with Marco Silva being shown the exit door earlier this month after a poor run of results.
Duncan Ferguson has taken interim charge since and has galvanised the squad, as they are now unbeaten in three Premier League matches.
Ancelotti's first task will be on Boxing Day as they host Sean Dyche's Burnley.
However, the three-time Champions League winner with AC Milan and Real Madrid is already looking to the future and believes European football can be achieved during his spell in charge.
"Of course, I am here to work to improve the team and to put better quality in the squad and I try to do my best," he said.
"Our goal is to be competitive in the Premier League, to try to stay at the top of the table, and to try to be competitive in Europe. I think it's not going to happen straight away, but we have to work for this."
Everton have only been in Europe twice this decade, both times in the Europa League.
In the 2014-15 season, they reached the last 16 of the competition under Roberto Martinez before a 5-2 hammering against Dynamo Kyiv saw them dumped out.
Then, two seasons ago they endured an awful group stage under Ronald Koeman, winning just one of six games before being knocked out.
Their last Champions League campaign came in 2005 though they failed to qualify for the group stages after losing to Villarreal in qualifying under David Moyes.
- TeamTalk Media
