The second time was the charm for former Milan coach Stefano Pioli, who’s been appointed by Al-Nassr on Wednesday. The Italian manager came inches close to getting the Al-Ittihad job in the summer, but it fell through at the 11th hour.
According to Mediaset, the boss inked a two-year contract with an option. He’ll make €12M net annually, a lot more than any Serie A team could have offered. That’s part of the reason why a rumored late attempt by Roma was short-lived. Instead, Milan weren’t really considering bringing him back even though they might fire Paulo Fonseca.
Pioli succeeds Luis Castro on the Al-Nassr bench and will work with former Serie A stars Cristiano Ronaldo and Marcelo Brozovic. The other foreigners in the squad are Bento, Mohamed Simakan, Aymeric Laporte, Otavio, Talisca, Wesley, Angelo, and Sadio Mané. They finished second last season and started with one win and two draws in the present one.
Per Tuttomercatoweb, the Parma-born skipper edged out Maciej Skorza, Sergio Conceiçao, Xavi, and Thomas Tuchel. He was still under contract with Milan, which will save €5.8M gross from his departure.
Our Take on Pioli and Al-Nassr
That’s a solid piece of news for the Rossoneri, which will have a larger budget if they do give Fonseca the axe. Not so much for other Serie A sides that have reservations about their gaffers. While he might not be an overly exciting name, he was one of the most established and steady managers on the market and would have been less expensive than most foreign options.
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