Official: Pioli to coach Cristiano Ronaldo’s Al-Nassr – what it means for Milan | OneFootball

Al-Nassr have officially announced the appointment of Stefano Pioli as their new head coach, with his AC Milan deal having been terminated.

It had been spoken about as a possibility for quite some time and now it has been made official: Pioli’s next job after leaving Milan at the end of last season will be in the Saudi Pro League with Al-Nassr, who have a star-studded team.

Among the players in their squad are Cristiano Ronaldo, Said Mane, Marcelo Brozovic, Mohamed Simakan, Aymeric Laporte and Otavio.

Pioli and Milan parted ways at the end of last season but his contract was never formally terminated, which means his deal continued to run and he was set to be paid €7.5m gross (€4m net) until June 2025.

On top of that, Fonseca has a contract to June 2027 that is worth €4.7m gross (€2.5m net), which meant a commitment of €12.2m gross for the 2024-25 season on coaches past and present, therefore over €1m per month.

If Milan were to sack Fonseca then they would obviously hire another coach which would only add to the expense, and Pioli being off the payroll may well factor into how long the Portuguese is given to turn things around, with Edin Terzic linked.