Flamengo president insists Jorge Jesus has shown no intention of leaving the club

Flamengo president Rodolfo Landim has said that manager Jorge Jesus is expected to oversee the training of the first-team squad on Monday and has not given any hint of leaving the club.

The Portuguese head coach took charge of Flamengo in June last year and he happened to create history with the club as they won the Brazilian Serie A and Copa Libertadores double for the first time ever.

The Rio de Janeiro outfit have since enjoyed further success under his management with the Brazilian Super Cup success while they were recently able to lift the Rio state title for the 36th time in their history.

Flamengo faced Fluminense across two legs of the final held at the Maracana Stadium this month. They won the opening leg with a 2-1 score and managed to beat their cross-town rivals 1-0 in the second leg yesterday.

The club are currently going through one of their best phases and that has made Jesus a genuine favourite among the faithful, who have seen the team suffer over the past decade without any major honours.

Earlier last month, Jesus signed a new 12-month contract with Flamengo until June 2021, but there have been doubts regarding his future amid suggestions that Benfica want him back as their manager.

Jesus coached the Lisbon giants for six seasons between 2009 and 2015 before he made the switch to arch-rivals Sporting Lisbon for a three-year stint. He thereafter had a six-month tenure with Al-Hilal, which was his first job outside of Portugal.

The 65-year-old has not made any comments on the ongoing speculation and Landim has said that Flamengo are expecting their manager to take charge of the training session on Monday.

When asked specifically about any approach from another club, Landim clarified that Jesus has not talked about the possibility of considering a fresh challenge elsewhere.

“We are expecting him there on Monday, that’s what I said to him now in the dressing room. Everyone has the right [to have a break], you know, they won a title. Let’s take a few days off. He did not mention anything, of course not,” He told Globo Esporte.

Flamengo will start the defence of their Serie A crown with a home game against Atletico Mineiro on August 10. The league campaign was initially scheduled to start from May 5 this year before it was postponed because of the coronavirus outbreak.

Stats from Transfermarkt.com