Scolari is Essien's Next Boss

Chelsea have chosen World Cup winner Luiz Felipe Scolari to succeed Avram Grant as manager.

The Brazilian will stand down as Portugal manager at the end of Euro 2008 and take charge at Stamford Bridge.

A Chelsea statement read: "Chelsea Football Club is delighted to confirm that Luiz Felipe Scolari will be the club's new manager from July 1, 2008.

"Felipe has great qualities. He is one of the world's top coaches with a record of success at country and club level, he gets the best out of a talented squad of players and his ambitions and expectations match ours.

"He was the outstanding choice."

Scolari's first task at Chelsea may be to fight off the advances from Jose Mourinho for some of his players.

Mourinho has made it clear he would like to take some of his old squad to Italy, where he was recently appointed Inter manager.

Frank Lampard, Ricardo Carvalho and Didier Drogba have all been linked with Inter, but no deals have been struck.

Scolari arrives at Chelsea with record of success in international competition.

In 1995 and 1999, he won the Copa Libertadores, South America's equivalent of the Champions League.

He was in charge of the Brazil team that won the World Cup in 2002, knocking England out in the quarter-finals.

He was also in charge of the Portugal that knocked England out of Euro 2004 at the quarter-final stage and he was widely linked with the England job in 2006.

Reports suggested Scolari was offered the job but would not sign until the end of the World Cup and Steve McClaren was appointed.

Scolari, has never managed a club in Europe but he is used to working for ruthless bosses in Brazil, where clubs often change coaches several times during each season.