Al Nassr showed Rudi Garcia the door on Thursday and handed little-known Croatian Dinko Jelicic the chance to boss Cristiano Ronaldo in the Saudi Pro League.
Roma head coach Jose Mourinho had been linked with a possible Ronaldo reunion, having coached the Portuguese at Real Madrid.
Spanish newspaper AS this week claimed Mourinho had been offered a two-year contract worth €100million.
For now at least, Al Nassr have put Jelicic in charge, promoting him from his position in charge of their under-19 team.
The Riyadh-based club said: "Al Nassr can announce that head coach Rudi Garcia has left the club by mutual agreement.
"The board and everyone at Al Nassr would like to thank Rudi and his staff for their dedicated work during the past 8 months.
"We can announce that our U19 coach, Mr Dinko Jelicic will be the new head coach for the first team. Good luck, Mr Dinko."
Frenchman Garcia was a Ligue 1 winner as head coach of Lille in 2010-11 and the 59-year-old has also bossed Roma, Marseille and Lyon.
He was appointed in late June last year and departs with Al Nassr sitting second in the Pro League with seven games remaining, three points behind leaders Al Ittihad, to whom they lost last month.
Ronaldo's arrival as a free agent after his release by Manchester United was announced in late December, and the 38-year-old superstar has drawn unprecedented attention to the league.
Real Madrid's record scorer spent three seasons playing under fellow Portuguese Mourinho at the Santiago Bernabeu from 2010 to 2013, and it remains to be seen whether they are reacquainted in the future.
Jelicic gets the chance to lead the team for now, and he may make the job his own.
Should Al Nassr fall short of overhauling Al Ittihad, however, they may have reason to think again, and it could prove less disruptive to prise away a top coach of Mourinho's ilk during the close season rather than at the business end.
Brentford 3-1 Southampton: Bees begin life after Toney with comfortable win
Brentford began life without Ivan Toney with a comfortable 3-1 victory over Southampton.
Bryan Mbeumo’s brace and a Yoane Wissa goal proved to be the difference between the two sides and condemned the Saints to their third straight loss since promotion back to the Premier League.
With departed striker Toney watching in the stands after his move to Al-Ahli in Saudi Arabia, the hosts proved too strong for Russell Martin’s men. They created the superior chances and capitalised on an error-strewn performance from Southampton’s backline.
Mbeumo opened the scoring on the stroke of half-time before doubling the lead halfway through the second period and Wissa then got on the scoresheet moments later to continue Brentford’s strong start to the campaign. Yukinari Sugawara bagged a consolation in injury time for the Saints.
Brentford sit in fifth place ahead of the first international break, while Southampton are second-bottom of the league table with zero points.
Data debrief: Wissa continues to prove effective at home
Wissa now has five goals and two assists in his last seven matches at the Gtech Community Stadium.
Brentford have recorded consecutive home league wins for the first time since last November, and the first time in their opening home games since August 2018.
Brentford 3-1 Southampton: Bees begin life without Toney with comfortable win
Brentford began life without Ivan Toney with a comfortable 3-1 victory over Southampton.
Bryan Mbeumo’s brace and a Yoane Wissa goal proved to be the difference between the two sides and condemned the Saints to their third straight loss since promotion back to the Premier League.
With departed striker Toney watching in the stands after his move to Al-Ahli in Saudi Arabia, the hosts proved too strong for Russell Martin’s men. They created the superior chances and capitalised on an error-strewn performance from Southampton’s backline.
Mbeumo opened the scoring on the stroke of half-time before doubling the lead halfway through the second period and Wissa then got on the scoresheet moments later to continue Brentford’s strong start to the campaign. Yukinari Sugawara bagged a consolation in injury time for the Saints.
Brentford sit in fifth place ahead of the first international break, while Southampton are second-bottom of the league table with zero points.
Data debrief: Wissa continues to prove effective at home
Wissa now has five goals and two assists in his last seven matches at the Gtech Community Stadium.
Brentford have recorded consecutive home league wins for the first time since last November, and the first time in their opening home games since August 2018.
Man Utd handed Mourinho reunion in Europa League
Manchester United will travel to Turkey to face former manager Jose Mourinho's Fenerbahce following the Europa League's revamped draw on Friday.
The new league phase format sees each of the 36 teams play eight games, four at home and four away.
During his two-and-a-half-year spell at United, Mourinho led them to Europa League glory in 2017, beating Ajax 2-0 in the final.
The Red Devils' remaining seven games include an all-British home clash against Rangers, welcoming them to Old Trafford for the first time in 14 years, and a trip to another of Mourinho's old clubs, Porto.
Rangers, who have failed to win any of their last 13 games in major European competition against English opposition, will also face Tottenham and Conference League winners Olympiakos.
Spurs, winners of the inaugural tournament in 1972, will also meet Roma and Galatasaray in their other seven fixtures.
Meanwhile, in the Conference League, Chelsea's draw includes League of Ireland side Shamrock Rovers at home and a trip to Panathinaikos.
The Blues, who narrowly qualified for the competition on Thursday, have never faced any of their six opponents in any competition before.
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