Saudi football club Al-Nassr has appointed Luis Castro as a new manager, the club confirmed on Thursday.
The 61-year-old Portuguese replaced Rudi Garcia, who was sacked by the Saudi club due to their frustrating finish in the 2022-23 league campaign.
Castro left his role as a head coach at Brazilian club Botafogo on June 30 in order to complete his move to the Saudi side.
According to multiple reports, it is said that Cristiano Ronaldo — who made a sensational move to Al-Nassr in January 2023 — was heavily involved in the decision-making over a new manager.
It must be noted that Al-Nassr have been without a permanent manager since Garcia was sacked in April, with Dinko Jelicic taking charge as a caretaker manager.
Castro’s experience as a manager and the time he has spent at clubs like Porto and Shakhtar Donetsk would help him manage Al-Nassr and also his fluency in Portuguese would be key in communicating with the star-man Ronaldo.
Earlier, Marcelo Brozovic was announced as a new signing for Al-Nassr.
The Saudi club acquired the services of the Croatian — after a long battle with the Spanish club FC Barcelona, in a £15 million deal.
Brozovic spent eight years with Inter Milan, being one of the key players, he also started the Champions League final in June, which they lost against Manchester City in Istanbul.
Making 330 appearances for the Italian club, he scored 31 goals during his time in Italy, winning Serie A once and lifting the Coppa Italia on two different occasions.
It must be noted that the Saudia Pro League have taken the football world by storm in the last seven months.
Ever since Ronaldo made his move to the Middle East, we have seen names like Karim Benzema, Roberto Firmino, N’golo Kante and many others following in the footsteps of the five-time Ballon d’Or winner.
Liverpool legend Steven Gerrard was announced as the manager of Al-Ettifaq on Tuesday (July 4). Right after completing his move, the former England captain is already targeting the likes of Jordan Henderson and Pierre-Emerick Aubamayeng to join him at the club.