The Spanish Fernando Hierro has left his position as sports director of Chivas, as announced by Club Deportivo Guadalajara on their social media.

“Club Guadalajara informs that Fernando Hierro spoke with the management to communicate his decision to take another professional opportunity outside the country, and therefore, starting today, he will no longer serve as sports director,” stated the Mexican club in a press release.

Hierro took on the role at Guadalajara, one of the most successful and popular teams in Mexico, in October 2022.

The former Real Madrid defender brought Chivas back to the forefront, as under his leadership, the team directly qualified for the quarterfinals in all three tournaments.

In his first tournament, the Clausura 2023, he reached the final, the first for Chivas since 2017, and came close to winning the 13th league title in the club’s history, but they lost in the final series to Tigres UANL.

In the following tournament, Guadalajara was eliminated in the quarterfinals, leading to the departure of their first coach, the Serbian Veljko Paunović. In this Clausura 2024, with Argentine Fernando Gago as the coach, Chivas made it to the semifinals.

On the international stage, Hierro did not achieve the same success, as the team was knocked out in the round of 16 of this year’s Champions Cup by their biggest rival, América.

However, his performance this season enabled Guadalajara to qualify for next year’s Concacaf tournament.

“We want to thank Fernando for his work, as he laid the foundations for an integral sports project that is the path to follow,” stated Chivas in the press release.

Reports from Televisa Deportes indicate that the former Spanish national team player will take on the role of Sports Director at Al-Nassr, with Cristiano Ronaldo’s Saudi team paying his $3 million release clause.