“Definitive answer”: Will Jesus lead the Saudi national team?

Portugal’s Jorge Jesus, the former coach of Al Nasr, has settled the controversy surrounding his possibility of taking charge of Saudi Arabia’s first team, after his lawyer Luis Miguel revealed that contacts with Saudi Arabian federation officials did not go beyond the initial investigation stage and never turned into formal negotiations.

Jesus’ name has been heavily linked with the Saudi Arabia job following the Greens’ exit from the World Cup group stage amid widespread speculation he could take over at the next stage, but the news did not translate into official action from the Saudi federation.

Luis Miguel confirmed in his statements to the newspaper.SportsSaudi Arabia said Jesus’ chances of coaching the Saudi national team currently appear slim, noting that contact with Al-Nasr Club since his career ended has been limited to preliminary talks and enquiries.

Miguel said: “I don’t think it will happen and that Jesus will become the coach of the Saudi Arabian national team. “Indeed, after Al-Nasr retired, there were talks with the officials about that possibility, but nothing concrete happened.”

Jesus ended his career at Al Nasr after leading the team to the Saudi Arabian League title before he refused to renew his contract with Al-Asmi, who later moved to sign a two-year contract with Australian coach Ange Postecoglou, and he has already begun his mission in preparation for the new season.

The Portuguese coach’s lawyer has revealed that Jesus’ current desire is to return to Portugal, despite having yet to receive offers from clubs in his country, while also confirming that there is serious interest from several clubs outside of Portugal.

“The most likely possibility is that Jesus wants to stay in Portugal and at the moment there are no offers for him from there, while he has offers from Qatar, Turkey and Brazil and we have to wait to find out what happens in the coming period.”

Thus, the possibility of Jorge Jesus leading the Saudi Arabian national team seems remote at the moment in the absence of official talks, while the Portuguese coach continues to examine the offers he has received from several directions in the hope of resolving his future in the coming period.