Marcelino Emerges as Leading Candidate for Al-Ahli Coach

Al-Ahli have not kicked a ball in the new season yet, but the club is already living at the pace of a touchline drama.

At the centre of it: Marcelino.

The former Villarreal coach has suddenly become the name on every Al-Ahli supporter’s lips, emerging as the leading candidate to replace Matthias Jaissle ahead of the new campaign. The timing could hardly be more brutal. The Roshn League season starts on 13 August, with Al-Ahli opening against Al-Diriyah. The dugout, for now, is empty.

Jaissle’s resignation on Thursday, reported by the press, lit the fuse. The German is set to leave to take over at Newcastle United next season, stepping in as successor to Eddie Howe and leaving Al-Ahli scrambling for a new boss just days before competitive football returns.

Once word of Jaissle’s exit spread, the coaching carousel spun into overdrive. Transfer specialists across Europe rushed to fill the vacuum with names and angles. One stood out.

On Saturday morning, French journalist Santi Aouna dropped the first major twist, reporting that Marcelino was close to taking the Al-Ahli job after agreeing to the offer on the table. For a fanbase desperate for clarity, it sounded like the first real step towards stability.

Then came the counter.

Fabrizio Romano, the Italian journalist whose transfer lines carry serious weight in the modern game, moved quickly to cool the noise. In a tweet on X, he stated that neither Marcelino nor Xavi Hernandez were close to becoming Al-Ahli’s next coach. The message was clear: not done, not yet.

The story refused to settle. Aouna fired back with a new update, this time in Arabic, doubling down on his stance. He insisted Marcelino had already agreed to take charge of “Al-Raqi” on a two-year contract, adding that the only remaining obstacle was the composition of his backroom staff.

So the picture is this: one well-sourced reporter says it is practically over the line, another says it is not close. In between those two positions sit Al-Ahli’s players, planning for a season without knowing who will lead them, and a fanbase watching the clock.

Supporters want the staff dispute resolved, and quickly. Every day lost now is a training session without the man who will decide systems, line-ups, and standards. Every delay chips away at the calm a club craves before a long campaign.

The countdown to 13 August has started. Whether Marcelino walks out as Al-Ahli’s head coach by then will say plenty about how this ambitious project handles pressure when the stakes are not just on the pitch, but in the manager’s office.