Rudi Garcia at Al-Nassr, it’s over… The Riyadh club posted a photo of the French coach, 59, crossed out with a big “Thank You” to definitively seal the fate of the former Lyon coach or Rome on its bench.
“The club’s management has officially decided to end the contractual relationship with the first team coach, Mr. Rudi Garcia, explains the short press release. We appreciate all the efforts he made with Al-Nassr and wish him success. “. Croatian Dinko Jelicic, the club’s current under-19 coach, will take charge of the first team.
“The formalization of this separation is supposed to take place in the coming days”, confided to us on Wednesday a close friend of the Saudi board, while the Spanish press had already recorded the eviction of the technician. The name of José Mourinho (AS Roma) is already among the potential successors.
The departure of Garcia would be partly linked to complicated relations with part of the locker room and in particular the star Cristiano Ronaldo, who arrived with great fanfare this winter, but also to sporting results below the expectations of the Saudi leaders.
Hooked by Al-Fayha (0-0), modest 10th, last weekend and defeat, at the beginning of March, by Al-Ittihad (1-0) in the clash at the top of the table, the Riyadh-based team currently occupies second place in the three-point standings of Al-Ittihad, against whom she also lost in the semi-finals of the Saudi Arabian Super Cup (3-1) at the end of January.
CR7, who has already had complicated relations with Ralf Rangnick, Erik ten Hag at Manchester United or Fernando Santos with the Portuguese selection, would have had some weight in the decision of the leaders. Always in search of requirement, the fivefold Ballon d’Or believes that his team has the potential to produce more. So with someone other than Garcia…
As a reminder, the Saudi Pro League has one of the highest dismissal rates in the world and is one of the most precarious leagues for a manager. On average, the latter stay a little more than four months in their post.