Portuguese media: Corinthians considered hiring him
Shabab Alahli close to renewing Jardim's contract
Portuguese coach Leonardo Jardim is one win away from the league title. Cinematographer: Najeeb Mohammed
Portuguese media reported that the Brazilian Corinthians entered into negotiations with Portuguese coach Leonardo Jardim, to take over the coaching of the team to succeed coach Coca, who was dispensed with his services last Thursday.
The newspaper «Record» that the Brazilian club communicated with the coach of Shabab Al Ahli in order to contract him, but the talks were not completed, because of Jardim's link with the «Dubai Knights» the most important stage of the season, as Shabab Al Ahli approached the renewal of his contract.
She added that the Portuguese coach will play the 25th and 26th rounds of the ADNOC Professional League, noting that he needs to achieve one victory in the two matches, to achieve his first title in the UAE, and lead Shabab Al Ahli to win the league title.
She added that the management of Corinthians has not decided the identity of the new coach who will lead the team, stressing that Jardim's contract with Shabab Al Ahli expires next June, which makes the Brazilian club think about leaving the door open to contract with the Portuguese coach.
She concluded that the former French coach of Monaco is also a candidate to return to training in one of the European leagues, after communicating with more than one team to earn his services next season.
For its part, the newspaper «Globo» Brazilian that Corinthians announced the departure of coach Coca one week after he took over the team, following protests that came out demanding his departure because of his accusation in a moral case in 1987.
She pointed out that Coca became the owner of the shortest training period in the history of the club, surpassing Juninho, who led the team in 2003 for only 12 days, as the 59-year-old coach led the Corinthians team in two matches, where he lost to Goiás in the Brazilian league, before leading the team to qualify for the round of 16 of the Brazilian Cup by beating Remo on penalties, after which the management of the Brazilian club decided to dismiss him from his position, and contacted Leonardo Jardim to take over the task immediately.
On the other hand, «Emirates Today» learned that Shabab Al Ahli approached the renewal of Leonardo Jardim's contract, especially that the team has provided very good levels under his leadership during the current season, and the team is one step away from crowning the league title for the first time since the 2015-2016 season, and the eighth in its history, to be unique «Dubai Knights» second place in the list of the most crowned clubs with the title, behind Al Ain, which has 14 titles, and ahead of Al Wasl with seven titles.
Leonardo Jardim has great experience in European leagues, and the same in Asia, as his most prominent stops in Europe, which began in 2003 with his compatriot Kamacha, then he coached the Portuguese clubs Braga and Sporting, and the Greek Olympiacos (with whom he won the league and cup titles in 2013), and Monaco (with whom he was crowned champion of the French league in 2017 after an absence of 17 years), and also qualified for the semifinals in the Champions League, before moving to coach Saudi Arabia's Al Hilal, and achieve with him the AFC Champions League titles. and the local Super Cup.
The Brazilian club reached out to Jardim and the talks were not completed.