Carlo Ancelotti has been sacked by Napoli. 

Before Tuesday night's Champions League win against Genk, the Italian side were on a nine-match winless run.

Ahead of kick-off against their Belgian opposition, reports suggested that Ancelotti would be sacked whatever the result and those suggestions have now been confirmed.

The club's official account tweeted the following statement:

"Napoli has decided to revoke the role of technical manager of the first team from Mr Carlo Ancelotti.

"The relations of friendship, esteem and mutual respect between the company, its president Aurelio De Laurentiis and Carlo Ancelotti remain intact." 

Gennaro Gattuso is expected to replace the Italian coach, who could soon be on his way to Arsenal, having been heavily linked with the vacant job in north London. 

Despite overseeing Napoli's biggest ever Champions League win - 4-0 vs Genk - and qualifying for the knockout stages, it seems Ancelotti's fate has been sealed for some time now. 

Not only were the Serie A club on a nine-match winless streak before Tuesday night, but the coach was caught up in a high-profile dispute between the club and players last month. 

After Napoli fell 11 points behind Juventus in the title race, the squad was ordered to attend a training retreat but failed to turn up. 

That angered club president Aurelio de Laurentiis, who laid much of the blame at Ancelotti's door:

"The club announces that, with reference to the behaviour of the players on Tuesday, it will proceed to protect its rights on an economic, capital, image and disciplinary levels in every competent jurisdiction," a statement read last month. 

"It is also made clear that the responsibility to decide on ordering days in a training retreat lies with coach Carlo Ancelotti." 

With the Italian coach leaving his role, it's likely those in north London will be monitoring the situation closely. 

It's not out of the question to suggest we could see Ancelotti in the Arsenal dugout soon.