Al Ittihad have sacked their Portuguese manager, Nuno Espirito Santo, after a poor run of results, the Saudi champions say.
Nuno was under pressure because of their struggles in the Saudi Pro League, and the club brought down the axe after a 2-0 defeat to Air Force Club of Iraq in the Asian Champions League (ACL) on Monday.
The Tottenham Hotspur manager, who enjoyed a successful spell as Wolverhampton Wanderers boss from 2017 to 2021, had been in charge of Jeddah-based Al Ittihad since July last year.
He took Al Ittihad to the Saudi title last season, but there were reports of a difficult relationship with striker Karim Benzema, who joined the club in June as part of the influx of foreign stars into the Pro League.
“The club has announced the end of its contract with Portuguese coach Nuno Santo,” Al Ittihad said in a statement posted late on Tuesday on X, formerly known as Twitter.
“This decision comes after a comprehensive technical evaluation of the past phase during which he was in charge of coaching the first football team.”
Assistant coach Hassan Khalifa will take temporary charge while the club finalise a replacement for Nuno, the statement said.
The club suffered their first defeat in this season’s ACL when they were beaten in Iraq and are also their home league. They have not won in five matches and have slipped to sixth position in the league’s standings.