Marcelo Gallardo didn’t stay long at Al-Ittihad, but his stay in Saudi Arabia paid off quite handsomely. He arrived in November last year, however, after fifth place in the championship with a team that included Karim Benzema, N’Golo Kante and Fabinho, a farewell was expected. Not at all pleasant for the club from Jeddah, since the Argentinian demanded 30,000,000 euros of compensation guaranteed by the contract in case of sacking him.It is not known whether Al-Ittihad paid him the full amount (yet), but on the club’s website, the public was informed by a short announcement that there was definitely a parting with the Argentine strategist. In the previous days, Marco Silva and Stefano Pioli were most often mentioned as his successors, and after the Portuguese from the Fulham bench rejected the offer, it was clear that the Italian would be trusted with the responsibility of getting Al-Ittihad back on top of Saudi football.Stefano Pioli will become the 2nd highest paid manager in football 🇮🇹€18M a year at Saudi club Al Ittihad 💰 pic.twitter.com/NDvON8js5X— Italian Football TV (@IFTVofficial) July 3, 2024 According to the latest information, Pioli has reached an agreement with the Saudi club and will sign a three-year contract, with which he will reportedly earn 18,000,000 euros per year.At the end of last season, Stefano Pioli parted ways with AC Milan, where he arrived in October 2019. In the 2021/2022 season, he managed to bring the title back to San Siro, and then led the Rossoneri to the semi-finals of the Champions League. In the previous competitive year, Milan finished in second place in Serie A, but with as many as 19 points less than champions Inter, which was the reason for parting with the 58-year-old coach from Parma.##NAJAVA_MECA_8191715##
