After a disappointing season marked by several failures (5th place in the Saudi Pro League, quarter-finalist in the AFC Champions League, FIFA Club World Cup and Arab Champions Cup, unfortunate finalist in the Saudi Super Cup, semi-finalist in the Saudi King’s Cup), Al-Ittihad made a major revolution on its bench after the successive ousters of Nuno Espirito Santos and Marcelo Gallardo: “We welcome coach Laurent Blanc to Al-Ittihad Club”the club said on its X account on Saturday. In search of a French coach after the departure of Marcelo Gallardo, the Saudi team has therefore decided to bet on the profile of the native of Alès, even if the names of Stefano Pioli and Christophe Galtier, currently on the bench of the Qatari club Al Duhail, have also circulated.
With Laurent Blanc at the helm, the Al-Ittihad club will continue to perfect its French for its new season, which promises to be crucial. Now that the file for the new coach is closed, the management of the People’s Club will be able to get busy in the summer transfer window in order to strengthen its squad and thus surround the team’s key players such as Karim Benzema, N’Golo Kanté, Fabinho, Abderrazak Hamdallah, Luiz Felipe and Jota. And the management wants to make a big splash by securing the services of the former OL darling, Houssem Aouar, currently at AS Roma since his transfer in the summer of 2023.
An agreement worth €15 million and bonuses!
According to our information, the Ittihad club reached an agreement today with AS Roma for around 15 million euros and bonuses for Houssem Aouar. In the deal, the Saudi team also wants to include the young nugget of the center, Jan Oliveras Codina. The Spanish left-back trained at FC Barcelona is under contract until June 30, 2026. Regarding the Algerian international, Aouar still has a lease until June 30, 2028 with the Giallorossi. After seeing Al-Hilal dominate the majority of national and continental competitions, the Doyens want to hit hard on the transfer window.
AS Roma’s summer is quite unusual as it marks a certain transition, despite the continuity of Daniele De Rossi on the bench. Indeed, with the arrival of Florent Ghisolfi in the offices, the Louve is undergoing a makeover and intends to strengthen. They have already sold Leonardo Spinazzola and Andrea Belotti, while the loans of Renato Sanches, Romelu Lukaku, Rasmus Kristensen, Dean Huijsen and Diego Llorente have ended. Houssem Aouar will arrive and his teammate Jan Oliveras Codina will commit in the coming days to Saudi Arabia.
