Fabio Celestini named Burnley head coach

Burnley appointed Fabio Celestini as their new head coach on 28 October 2026, four days after the sacking of Nicky Hayen.

Hayen was dismissed after just 14 games in charge of the Clarets.

The 50-year-old Celestini played for Lausanne, Marseille, Levante and Getafe and won 35 caps for Switzerland before moving into coaching. He led FC Basel to a domestic double in 2024-25, winning the Swiss Super League and the Swiss Cup, and was most recently in charge of CSKA Moscow, with whom he won the Russian Super Cup. He began his managerial career with Italian club Terracina and has also had spells at Lausanne, Lucerne, Lugano and Sion.

Celestini arrives to take charge of a Burnley side that have won just once in the Championship this season and sit 22nd in the table. The club's poor run of results stretches back to last season's Premier League campaign, and Burnley have been without a league win at home for more than a year.

Diego Lopez was appointed as Burnley's director of football earlier this week and was given the task of finding a new manager after Saturday's 4-1 defeat by Lincoln City.

"I look at Burnley and I see a club with big potential and players with real quality, who can help us achieve our supporters' ambitions," Celestini said. "I know the situation we are in, and I have lived it before. Our supporters deserve to see a team playing with belief from the first whistle." "Fabio brings the passion, experience and knowledge we were looking for," Lopez said. "He showed extraordinary determination and conviction to come to Burnley. "We want people who truly want to be here and help this club grow. Fabio is a clear example of that."

Details of Celestini's contract have not been disclosed by the club, and he left CSKA by mutual agreement in May after 11 months with the Russian Premier League side.