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Al Nassr head coach makes an immediate decision after Cristiano Ronaldo won SPL title
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- Al Nassr head coach makes an immediate decision after Cristiano Ronaldo won SPL title
Photo by Yasser Bakhsh/Getty Images
Jorge Jesus has decided to leave Al-Nassr immediately after helping Cristiano Ronaldo win the Saudi Pro League title.
The timing makes his exit even more dramatic, because it comes right after the Portuguese coach delivered the prize he was brought in to chase.
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For Al-Nassr, the title finally ended the wait for league glory with Ronaldo leading the project, but it also left the club needing a new manager before its defense of the trophy begins.
Photo by Mohammed Saad/Anadolu via Getty Images
Jorge Jesus leaves Al-Nassr after helping Cristiano Ronaldo win Saudi Pro League title
Fabrizio Romano shared Jorge Jesus' immediate decision after Al-Nassr won the Saudi Pro League with Cristiano Ronaldo.
Jesus said, "I came here to help Cristiano and this club to win, we did an incredible job all together… now for me it's time to go."
The message summed up how he viewed the job. Jesus did not frame the title as the beginning of a longer cycle, but as the completion of the mission he accepted when he arrived.
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He had made it clear before that Ronaldo's pursuit of major Saudi silverware was a major reason behind his decision to take the Al-Nassr role.
Winning the league gave both coach and player the ending they wanted, even if the celebration quickly turned into a managerial farewell.
Cristiano Ronaldo's title gives Al-Nassr a trophy high before Jorge Jesus replacement search
Al-Nassr clinched the Saudi Pro League on the final matchday with a 4-1 win over Damac, finishing two points ahead of Al-Hilal after a tense title race.
Ronaldo scored twice in that decisive game and finished the league campaign with 28 goals, finally adding the domestic Saudi title that had been missing from his Al-Nassr spell.
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Jesus' departure now forces the club into an important summer decision, because Al-Nassr cannot afford to lose momentum after building a title-winning side around Ronaldo, Sadio Mané and the rest of its expensive squad.
The next coach will inherit a champion, but also the pressure of keeping Ronaldo's final years in Saudi Arabia competitive at the highest level.
For Jesus, the exit is bold but understandable. He came to win with Ronaldo, delivered the trophy, and chose to leave before the next cycle could dilute that achievement. Al-Nassr's celebration will continue, but the club's next major decision has already arrived.
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