Luis Castro confirmed as new coach of Al-Nassr
Cristiano Ronaldo will play under fellow Portuguese compatriot Luis Castro next season, following the confirmation of his appointment by Saudi Arabian club, Al-Nassr.
Al Nassr confirmed the appointment of 61-year-old Luis Castro as their new head coach on Thursday afternoon.
Castro left his role at Brazilian Serie A side, Botafogo, which he has been at since March 2022 to join the Saudi Pro League club.
On June 30, it was revealed he’d officially departed after accepting an offer from a ‘foreign club’, which has now been confirmed as Al Nassr.
Sports broadcaster Ben Jacobs, revealed that Ronaldo who joined Al-Nassr in January following his dramatic departure from Manchester United, was heavily involved in Castro’s appointment.
Castro is the latest coaching hire this week in the cash-rich Saudi Pro League, following Jorge Jesus’ appointment at Al-Hilal and Steven Gerrard’s at Al-Ettifaq.
Al Nassr have been without a permanent manager since April, when the club parted ways with coach Rudi Garcia, with Dinko Jelicic coming in as caretaker.
Castro is a former professional footballer, playing for Vitória de Guimarães and Elvas in the Primeira Liga during his career. However, he spent most of his time down in the lower leagues before later becoming a manager in 1998.
61-year-old Luis Castro who will be leading Al-Nassr next season, is best known for his two seasons in Ukraine with Shakhtar Donetsk including home and away wins over Real Madrid in the group stage of the 2020-21 Champions League.
He will lead Al-Nassr into a qualifying playoff for the Asian Champions League next month after the team finished runner-up last season in the Saudi Pro League. The champion Al-Ittihad was coached by another Portuguese, Nuno Espírito Santo.
Al-Nassr is among four top Saudi clubs effectively nationalized last month by being taken into majority ownership by the sovereign wealth Public Investment Fund. PIF claims to have assets of around $700 billion and is chaired by Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman.
