Fonseca stepped down from his position at the Ligue 1 side last week against the backdrop of speculation linking him with the Milan job.

The 51 year-old spent two seasons with Lille, finishing fifth and fourth, and has previously coached Porto, Braga, Shakhtar Donetsk and Roma.

Milan's confirmation of Fonseca's arrival comes three weeks on from the 19-time Italian champions announcing Pioli would depart at the end of the 2023-2024 season.

Pioli won the Scudetto during his five-year spell at San Siro, doing so in 2021-2022 as the club ended its 11-year wait to finish top in Italy.

However, it followed that up with a fourth-place finish the next season and a second-place finish this past season, albeit 19 points adrift of Inter.

Sergio Conceicao, Mark van Bommel and Julen Lopetegui had also been touted as contenders to replace Pioli.