Al-Ittihad Appoints Marcelo Gallardo As New Head Coach (image-instagram/fabriziorom)
Saudi Arabia pro league club Al Ittihad are set to complete the appointment of Marcelo Gallardo as new head coach. The manager will travel to sign all the documents with official statement to follow soon. He will replace the sacked Nuno Espirito Santo at the helm of the club affairs.
Just months after leading the team, Espirito Santo was sacked due to the disappointment performance at the start of the season. He was only able to have two wins in total out of nine matches.
As per the football transfer analyst Fabrizio Romano, Marcelo will join the team with a contract for two years till 2025 and may even extend for further two years until 2027.
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The club also considered to have Jose Mourinho, but the legendry manager preferred to remain in Italy, reports German Garcia Grova. Al-Ittihad also approached another former Real Madrid boss, Julien Lopetegui to become their new manager. But he too turned down the offer and said that he would like to remain in England where he hopes to secure a job with a Premier League side.
Gallardo is considered to be the greatest manager in the history of River Plate. During his days with River Plate, he has won 14 titles including two Copa Libertadores, one of which was lifted after defeating bitter rivals Boca Juniors. He also guided the team to the final of the FIFA Club World Cup but lost to Barcelona in the summit clash in 2015.
His first match as manager at Al-Ittihad will be against Steven Gerrad’s Al Ettifaq on November 24 at Abdullah Al Dabil Stadium in the Saudi pro league.
