RIYADH — Saudi football club Al-Nassr has appointed Luis Castro as its new manager, the Riyadh-based club confirmed on Thursday.

The 61-year-old Portuguese replaced Rudi Garcia, who was sacked by the Saudi club following their frustrating finish in the 2022-23 league campaign.

Castro left his role as a head coach at Brazilian club Botafogo on June 30 to complete his move to the Saudi side.

According to multiple reports, Cristiano Ronaldo — who made a sensational move to Al-Nassr in January 2023 — was heavily involved in the decision-making over a new manager.

Al-Nassr has been without a permanent manager since Garcia was sacked in April, with Dinko Jelicic taking charge as a caretaker manager.

Castro’s experience as a manager and the time he had spent at clubs like Porto and Shakhtar Donetsk would help him manage Al-Nassr and also his fluency in Portuguese would be key in communicating with the star-man Ronaldo.

Earlier, Marcelo Brozovic was announced as a new signing for Al-Nassr.

The Saudi club acquired the services of the Croatian after a long battle with the Spanish club FC Barcelona in a £15 million deal.

Brozovic spent eight years with Inter Milan, being one of their key players. He also started the Champions League final in June, which they lost against Manchester City in Istanbul.

Making 330 appearances for the Italian club, he scored 31 goals during his time in Italy, winning Serie A once and lifting the Coppa Italia on two different occasions. — Agencies