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Jorge Sampaoli, who coached Lionel Messi as Argentina boss, rejected an offer to manager Cristiano Ronaldo at Al-Nassr before joining CR Flamengo, according to journalist Martin Liberman.
Al-Nassr announced last week that they have parted ways with manager Rudi Garcia. The Saudi Pro League giants pulled the plug on the Frenchman after they fell three points behind Al-Ittihad in the title race following a goalless draw against Al-Fayha.
Al-Aalami have since appointed their Under-19s coach Dinko Jelicic as their interim manager. Cristiano Ronaldo and Co. face arch-rivals Al-Hilal in the league in the Croatian's first game in charge on Tuesday (April 18).
The Al-Nassr hierarchy have begun the hunt for the team's next long-term manager. The Riyadh-based club have been linked with ambitious swoops for Zinedine Zidane and Jose Mourinho recently.
According to the aforementioned source, Sampaoli was under consideration at Mrsool Park before the Argentinian took charge of Flamengo. Al-Aalami reportedly called the tactician on Friday (April 14) and offered him double the money he would have received at the Brazilian club.
Despite the offer and the prospect of managing Cristiano Ronaldo being tempting, Sampaoli turned down Al-Nassr's approach. The former Argentina boss informed the Riyadh-based club that he had already told Flamengo that he was joining them.
"Al-Nassr called Sampaoli last Friday (April 14)," Liberman tweeted. "The coach replied that he had given his word to Flamengo six hours ago and that he was traveling from Europe to Rio de Janeiro on Saturday. The money (offered by Al-Nassr) was double."
Sampaoli was announced as Flamengo's new manager on Saturday (April 15). He put pen to paper on a one-and-a-half-year deal with the Brazilian giants.
Jorge Sampaoli could have been first manager to coach Lionel Messi and Cristiano Ronaldo
By rejecting Al-Nassr, Jorge Sampaoli turned down the opportunity to coach Cristiano Ronaldo. Having already worked with Lionel Messi during his time as Argentina boss, he could have become the first manager to coach both superstars.
Sampaoli was in charge of the Argentina national team for a year, between 2017 and 2018. Lionel Messi played 11 games under the tactician during that period, bagging seven goals and three assists.
Sampaoli's loss could be Gerardo Martino's gain, as the latter is Al-Nassr's second priority, as per Martin Liberman. Incidentally, Martino also coached Lionel Messi during his stints with Barcelona and La Albiceleste. He could now become the first to manage both legends.
