Chelsea are set to be impacted by Cristiano Ronaldo's Al-Nassr with the Saudi Arabian club looking to appoint a new manager. Al-Nassr are said to be targeting Zinedine Zidane and Jose Mourinho as their next manager after sacking Rudi Garcia on Thursday.
Both managers have been heavily linked with the vacant position at Stamford Bridge but now could be poached by the Saudi side ahead of the west Londoners. football.london understands the Blues will not rush the process of appointing a replacement for Potter after Frank Lampard took charge as caretaker boss until the end of the season.
football.london reported earlier this month that Julian Nagelsmann is a serious contender for the role, whilst Luis Enrique was in London to hold talks with Chelsea last week. The Blues have now offered Nagelsmann the chance to present his ideas and meet with club officials about becoming the new manager at Stamford Bridge.
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According to CBS Sports, Al-Nassr are targeting former Real Madrid manager Zidane and ex-Chelsea boss Mourinho as their potential next manager. Both coaches have been identified in collaboration with Ronaldo after it was revealed that before the Portuguese superstar arrived in Saudi Arabia, he would wield significant power at his new club that extended right the way through to hiring and firing of coaches.
It has not taken long for that to be reflected on the field with Garcia departing just eight months after his appointment and 12 games into the five-time Ballon d'Or winner's career in Saudi Arabia. With ambitions to grow the profile of the Saudi league extending to the highest levels of government in the kingdom, Al-Nassr are aiming to secure a marquee head coach to go alongside the highest scorer in men's international football.
This could see a world-class manager being appointed before Chelsea have the chance to conduct their round of interviews for those managers on the club's shortlist. The report added that a source close to Al-Nassr indicated that an initial verbal offer has been made to Zidane, who has been out of work since departing Real Madrid for a second time in 2021 - with Ronaldo understood to be involved in those conversations.
There is no guarantee that either Mourinho or Zidane would take the job with Al-Nassr, especially given the opportunity to manage in the Premier League available once again.
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