Former Milan and Napoli coach Gennaro Gattuso is in advanced talks with a number of Saudi Arabian sides about a move. The legendary Italy midfielder has had mixed success in the early part of his managerial career, and was recently sacked by La Liga side Valencia.
Despite the setback, Sky Sport Italia report that Gattuso is negotiating with Saudi Arabia’s prime minister to go to coach in the Saudi League.
The negotiations have reportedly been going on for several hours and are now at an advanced stage. The real negotiation is not happening between the coach and an individual club, but directly with the Prime Minister of Saudi Arabia. For several weeks, the country has been working to raise the profile of its football league, bringing in coaches and important players to Saudi League teams, the most recent being former Napoli defender Kalidou Koulibaly who joined Al-Hilal.
The report outlines how the Saudi Prime Minister “buys” the performance of international players and coaches and then proposes the projects of the top teams. In this way, Gattuso can then choose from the teams put on the table.
For Gattuso, therefore, negotiations are ongoing and in an advanced state and as soon as the financial agreement between the coach’s agent Jorge Mendes and the Prime Minister closes, Saudi Arabia will offer him the technical project of a Saudi League team.
