Rangers will be the third team Giovanni van Bronckhorst has managed.
The new manager of Rangers says he feels lucky.
Steven Gerrard left to join Villa and the new replacement will need to be granted a work permit.
Van Bronckhorst played for Rangers from 1998 to 2001 and won five trophies.
He won with both Barcelona and Barcelona before becoming the coach of the Dutch title.
He captained the Netherlands to the 2010 World Cup final and won 106 caps for his country.
He was the 17th permanent manager of Rangers and said he was " absolutely delighted".
He said that he was lucky to be working with a squad that was in a great position on all fronts.
I'm grateful for the chance to work again at this huge football club and I look forward to carrying on and enhancing the work that has been done already.
I can't wait to meet the club's incredible supporters again and begin this new era for us all.
After retiring from playing, Van Bronckhorst returned to first club Feyenoord as an assistant to Ronald Koeman and took over from Fred Rutten as head coach in 2015.
He won the Dutch Cup twice as a player, and then led them to victory in the final in 2016 and 2018, and their first Eredivisie title in 18 years.
After leaving his homeland, Van Bronckhorst went to China and took charge of Guangzhou R&F, winning seven out of 23 games.
The visa process is still ongoing and it's not clear if the Dutch will be in charge of the Scottish League Cup semi-final.
Rangers said that they could see how excited he was.
Rangers sporting director Ross Wilson said that Van Bronckhorst was part of a long list of coaches that the club had been tracking.
Initial talks were held within 48 hours after it was known that he was leaving for Villa.
"Gio has already shown himself to be a winner, he knows the club, he knows the quality of the squad and is absolutely aligned with our approach and mindset," Wilson said.
Outside of the formal discussions, I can see how excited he is. I am going to introduce him to the squad soon.
Douglas Park said that the club would support Giovanni and Ross to continue to make Rangers a success.
