Jesus. I chose Al Hilal over Saudi Arabia… and Brazil offered me the highest salary in the world

Portugal’s Jorge Jesus, the current manager of Al-Nasr, has revealed his preference to manage Al-Hilal in 2023 over the Saudi national team, despite agreeing with the Saudi Arabian Federation to manage Al-Akhdar.

Jesus assumed the position of head coach of “Al Hilal” in 2023 He enjoyed many successes over the course of two seasons, before moving to arch-rivals Al-Nasr this season.

Jesus said in an article in the Portuguese “Record” newspaper. “When I was in charge of Fenerbahçe at the end of the 2022-2023 season, Saudi Arabian federation officials contacted me and agreed to coach Al-Akhdar until the 2026 World Cup.

The Portuguese added: “We agreed on the financial terms and I asked for the contract to be for two years instead of three, with the possibility of an extension if Saudi Arabia wins the World Cup. The agreement was planned to be announced at the end of June.

He continued. “The signing date of the contract was set for June 30 in London, but three days before the date, Fahd Al-Mufaraj, the executive director of football at Al-Hilal club, called me and he invited me to train the team, but I explained to him that I am loyal to Saudi Al-Ittihad, so he said: the agreement”.

The Portuguese coach continued. “The next day they called again and said that the president of the federation had told them that I could choose my destination, so I asked for a day to think and I agreed to return to Al Hilal because I felt that my history with the club was not complete.”

Regarding his negotiations with the Brazilian federation regarding the training of the Seleção, he explained. “Interest turned into talks at the December 2024 meeting, during the Cup break, and the vice-president of the federation asked if I was ready to coach Brazil, and I told him yes at the time.”

Georgi added: “In Brazil, I was offered the highest salary in the world for a coach of the national team, and they were going to cancel my contract with Al Hilal for 11 million euros.

He said his aim was to win the elite AFC Champions League with Al Hilal and take the team to the 2025 Club World Cup in the US, so he asked to postpone the talks until next March.

“It was an offer I couldn’t refuse, but at the same time I was aiming to win the Asian Championship with Al Hilal and we were leading the league and wanted to play in the Club World Cup.

The current coach of Al-Nasr explained that the president of the Brazilian federation was surprised by his reluctance to participate in Samba’s training, noting that he agreed on the dates of his arrival and signing and his presentation to the media last May 10, after the end of the AFC Champions League Elite League.

Jesus confirmed that the former president of “Al Hilal” Fahd bin Nafel intends to extend the contract for another two years and said: “I spoke to the president of Al Hilal about Brazil’s interest and he told me that the club does not need the Brazilians’ money and that he wants me to be in the Al Hilal project.”

Jesus attributed his failure to coach Brazil to the investigations into Brazilian FA president Ednaldo Rodríguez and the appointment of a new president, who then signed Italian Carlo Ancelotti to lead the Seleção.