Gallardo arrives in Saudi Arabia

Argentinian coach Marcelo Gallardo has arrived in Saudi Arabia following being officially appointed as the new manager of Saudi Pro League side Al-Ittihad.

The 47-year-old is taking charge of the defending Saudi champions on an 18-month deal which will keep him contracted to the Jeddah-based club until the end of the 2024/25 campaign.

As mentioned, Al-Ittihad won the Saudi title last season but The Tigers are currently sitting fifth in the table after their 4-2 defeat of Abha prior to the November international break. Before that victory, they had managed just two victories in their previous nine matches across all competitions, leading to the sacking of Nuno Espirito Santo.

Al-Ittihad are one of the so-called ‘big four’ clubs in the Saudi Arabian top-flight and their squad consists of many household names such as Luiz Felipe, N’Golo Kante, Fabinho and Karim Benzema. 

Gallardo, who earned 44 caps for the Argentinian national team whilst playing for the likes of River Plate, Monaco and Paris Saint-Germain, began his managerial career with Nacional in 2011, with whom he won the 2011/12 Uruguayan Primera Division title in his only season in charge.

After that, he spent eight years at his former club River Plate between 2014 and 2022, implementing a progressive but effective style of football with the Argentinian giants. They won the Argentine Primera Division, three Copa Argentina trophies, two Supercopa Argentina’s, one Trofeo de Campeones de la Liga Professional, two Copa Libertadores’, one Copa Sudamericana, three Recopa Sudamericana trophies and they were also runners’ up in a further Copa Libertadores as well as the FIFA Club World Cup.