Thorsten Fink has been named as the new coach of Bundesliga strugglers Hamburg, the club have confirmed.
Former Bayern Munich midfielder Fink returns to Germany two years after leaving 2. Bundesliga side FC Ingolstadt 04 for FC Basel.
Fink, 43, has enhanced his reputation in Switzerland, leading Basel to successive Super League titles, and guiding his side to a 3-3 Champions League draw with Manchester United last month.
Hamburg have been without a manager since sacking Michael Oenning last month and sporting director Frank Arnesen had stepped in as caretaker earlier this week.
Arnesen will take charge of Sunday's Bundesliga clash with Freiburg, but said he was delighted to be stepping aside for Fink, whom he stressed was the club's first choice.
"Thorsten Fink was the coach I wanted," Arnesen said. "He fits in with HSV and with our philosophy. He will improve the team and develop us further.''
Fink had earlier pre-empted Hamburg's announcement, telling Sport1: "My transfer to Hamburg is complete. I am no longer the coach of Basel from this moment.
"Everything has moved so quickly, I will be moving to Hamburg on Monday.''
The Rothosen are currently bottom of the Bundesliga table having won just one of their first eight games this season.
Fink's assistant at Basel, Heiko Vogel, has been put in interim charge of the Swiss champions until the end of December while they seek a permanent replacement.
