Al-Ittihad are fighting hard to keep former Leeds United target Nuno Espirito Santo for another year despite his request to leave earlier this month.
That is according to journalist Rudy Galetti, who reports confidence is growing at the Saudi Arabian side that they will be able to convince Nuno to stay at the club for another season.
With one game to spare, Nuno guided Al Ittihad to the Saudi Pro League title on Saturday with a 3-0 win at Al Feiha, pipping Cristiano Ronaldo’s Al-Nassr to the crown.
Nuno has on loan Leeds winger Helder Costa in his squad at Al-Ittihad, with the 29-year-old netting two goals and providing one assist in 17 matches this season.
Al-Ittihad are looking to persuade Nuno into remaining at the club by bringing in a number of top players from Europe to the club, with Karim Benzema looking likely to be the first.
Former Leeds target Nuno set to stay
Nuno was one of a host of managers Leeds targeted back in February following Jesse Marsch’s sacking, though they were unable to prise him away from the Middle East.
The former Tottenham Hotspur and Wolverhampton Wanderers boss was reportedly interviewed for the vacant position, but Leeds would’ve had to pay £5.3 million to release him from his contract.
It was reported a couple of weeks ago that Nuno had asked for his current deal to be terminated at Al-Ittihad due to interest from a number of unnamed clubs.
Whether one of those clubs was Leeds is another question, particularly given the man driving the previous interest Victor Orta is no longer at Elland Road.
Either way, it is looking more and more likely Nuno remains at Al-Ittihad, which could well be important in terms of getting Costa off the books permanently.
Receive a digest of our best Leeds content each week direct to your mailbox
