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Marcelo Gallardo to Al Ittihad – here we go! The former River Plate manager has completed an agreement to take over the Saudi Pro League club on a deal valid until 2025, with the option to extend the deal for a further two years. The agreement is done, everything is signed between Gallardo and Al Ittihad – the Argentine is now travelling to Saudi and it will be made official soon.
Gallardo had many opportunities in Europe in recent years, but he’s now heading to Saudi, where he will be one of the top five best paid managers in the world. It’s a big contract, a big salary, and a big opportunity for him in the Saudi league.
Al Ittihad are also looking for a new director of football, with AC Milan legend Paolo Maldini in talks with the club, though that’s not yet a done deal. Gallardo is, though, and it’s quite a statement by Al Ittihad as they bring in a very highly rated coach to add to their signings of Karim Benzema, N’Golo Kante and Fabinho over the summer.
Another big story in the managerial merry-go-round is with Carlo Ancelotti, as I’m aware there have been some reports about Real Madrid opening talks over a new two-year deal with the Italian tactician.
However, I’ve looked into this and I’m not currently hearing any new information on Ancelotti’s future – no changes for the manager, no concrete developments with Real Madrid or the Brazilian national team.
Ancelotti will decide his future later, and for now is just focusing on the present, and on helping Real Madrid through the second half of the season. We’ll see when things change, but for now there has been nothing substantial in either direction.
Back to the transfer market, and we keep seeing Brighton’s Evan Ferguson linked with the likes of Chelsea and Manchester United. I can confirm that big clubs like these are following Ferguson, because he’s a top talent, but it’s just normal scouting and monitoring – it would be surprising if they weren’t keeping an eye on an exciting young player like him!
There is, however, nothing more concrete to report for the moment. Ferguson only recently signed a new contract with Brighton, so he’s fully focused on them. I’m told he’s really…
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