The Saudi Federation officially announces the dismissal of Marcelo Gallardo
The club announced Saudi Federation In an official statement, this evening, Tuesday, July 2, Marcelo Gallardo was dismissed from coaching the first football team, after poor results in the last season 2023-24.
Marcelo Gallardo took over as coach of Al-Ittihad Club last November, succeeding the Portuguese Nuno Espirito Santo, who was also dismissed from his position due to poor results; however, the Argentine coach did not succeed in ending the season well with the Jeddah club.
The union said about the dismissal of Marcelo Gallardo in a statement published on its official account on the social networking platform:X“: “Al-Ittihad Club announces the termination of the contractual relationship with the first football team coach, Marcelo Gallardo”; before adding: “The club wishes the coach success in his future career.”
Al-Ittihad failed to win any title in the past 2023-24 season, and it also missed the opportunity to participate in the first edition of the AFC Champions League for the elite next season after missing the opportunity to finish the Saudi Roshen League in one of the top three places, so it was decided to dismiss Marcelo Gallardo.
Behind the scenes of Marcelo Gallardo’s dismissal
A source revealed to “win win“Earlier, the Al-Deeb management delayed announcing Gallardo’s dismissal, due to Ramon Planes, the sports director of the Saudi Al-Ittihad club, negotiating with Gallardo, regarding the termination of the contract by mutual consent between the two parties.
The source explained that the Argentine coach insisted on receiving the full value of the penalty clause, which amounts to 30 million euros, in the event that his contract is terminated by the Saudi Al-Ittihad Club.
Gallardo believed that he did not deserve to be dismissed from his position, despite the poor results of the “Dean” in the 2023-24 season; as the former River Plate star believes that his team suffered from difficult circumstances beyond its control, which caused it to lose all the championships this season.
Who will succeed Marcelo Gallardo at Al-Ittihad?
Many names have been linked to the possibility of coaching Al-Ittihad next season, with the name of Italian coach Massimiliano Allegri, former coach of Juventus, appearing alongside Argentine Mauricio Pochettino, former coach of English club Chelsea.
The club had previously entered into negotiations with German Dino Toppmöller, the technical director of Eintracht Frankfurt, but a special source told “WinWin” that the Jeddah club had backed down from the idea of signing him due to his very high financial demands.
Other reports confirmed that Portuguese Marco Silva, the current coach of Fulham Club, has entered the circle of nominations by the Union to lead the Dean next season.
It is noteworthy that the Roshen League champion the season before last, had ranked fifth in the Saudi Roshen League standings for the past season (2023-24), and was eliminated from the Club World Cup in the second round at the hands of Al-Ahly of Egypt, and was eliminated from the AFC Champions League in the quarter-finals at the hands of Al-Hilal, and lost to the same team in the Saudi Super Cup final, and the semi-finals of the Custodian of the Two Holy Mosques Cup.
