German soccer coach Jens Wissing will become the new head coach of Al-Ittihad in Saudi Arabia. Just half a year after his first stint as head coach at Gamba Osaka, the 38-year-old is taking a huge step forward in his career.
It was already reported last season that Al-Ittihad was courting Jens Wissing following a disappointing 5th-place finish. The signing of a contract running through 2028 is imminent and is expected to take place next week.
Wissing succeeds Portuguese coach Sergio Conceicao, who was relieved of his duties because the 2025 Saudi Arabian champions had clearly failed to defend their title last season, finishing 31 points behind champions Al-Nassr. The German had come into the spotlight after leading Gamba Osaka to a sensational 1-0 victory over Al-Nassr and Cristiano Ronaldo in the final of the AFC Champions League Two.
Like his mentor, Wissing is relying on Wolf as a “Special Advisor”
A triumph that is now paying off for the coach personally as well. The Münsterland native had previously celebrated successes as an assistant coach alongside Roger Schmidt at PSV Eindhoven and Benfica Lisbon; he was already regarded as a talented coach during that time—and now he has taken his first steps on his own. He had only taken his first head coaching position in Japan in January, and following this unexpected success, the next stage of his career is now within reach.
Schmidt now serves in an advisory role for the Japanese Football Association and has put his coaching career on hold, but the “Schmidt Principle” continues to work, because: Wissing is relying on Schmidt’s longtime personal assistant, Jörn Wolf. The Hamburg native had already accompanied him to Osaka at the beginning of the year and will also be on board in Saudi Arabia.
As in Japan, the 50-year-old former media director of Hamburger SV will be hired as a “Special Advisor” and, together with Wissing, will continue the model that he and Schmidt first began at Bayer Leverkusen in 2017 and later developed further in China, the Netherlands, and Portugal.
