Stefano Pioli is rumored to be in the crosshairs of a different Saudi team, Cristiano Ronaldo’s Al-Nassr. His move there could materialize this time after his hire at Al-Ittihad fell through at the 11th hour in the summer due to Karim Benzema’s opposition, La Gazzetta dello Sport informs.
The team is mulling a coaching change as they aren’t fully satisfied with Luis Castro. The decision could come in the next few days after the match versus Al-Ahli. They have won once and drawn once so far. They finished second but were very distant from Al-Hilal in the previous campaign.
In addition to Ronaldo, Pioli would manage Sadio Mané, Marcelo Brozovic, Aymeric Laporte, and Alex Telles, among others. His salary would be in the same neighborhood as his prospective one at Al-Ittihad, €10M yearly.
Milan would benefit from such a turn of events economically. The gaffer is still under contract with a €4M net yearly wages. It’d remove a potential replacement for Paulo Fonseca, who’s already on the hot seat.
Our Take on Pioli and Al-Nassr
The main obstacle is generally the boss’ willingness to transfer to Saudi Arabia in these situations. Since he’s keen, he’ll find a landing spot eventually even if this one doesn’t come together. It’ll be interesting to see whether the Rossoneri would stall, which would mean that they are really thinking about going back to him. They probably won’t and shouldn’t, as it’d be better to go in a different direction if things didn’t work out with Fonseca.
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