In an unexpected development, negotiations between Al-Najaf Club and coach Luay Salah failed after nearly two days of talks, due to the inability of both parties to reach a final agreement, amid disagreements regarding the technical and administrative requests made by the coach.

According to sources close to the matter, Luay Salah had set conditions related to the nature of the technical work, the structure of the supporting staff, in addition to providing some basic requirements to ensure the establishment of a competitive team for the upcoming season of the Iraqi Stars League. However, the management of Al-Najaf Club was unable to meet these requests, leading to the official halt of negotiations.

Luay Salah, who is considered one of the rising names in Iraqi coaching, had expressed a serious desire to undertake a coaching experience with Al-Najaf Club, especially amid ongoing discussions about a new project by the club's management to build a young and competitive team. However, the lack of agreement between the two parties ended this path in its infancy.

This failure in negotiations brings the management of Al-Najaf back to square one regarding the hiring of a new coach to lead the team in the new season, at a time when most other Iraqi clubs have already begun their technical preparations early, which increases the pressure of time on Al-Najaf's management.

The fans of Al-Najaf are waiting for the management to act quickly to appoint a new coach who possesses the vision and ability to pull the team out of the cycle of fluctuation, especially after a past season that saw modest results and a ranking that does not befit the club's history, while it seems that the options have become more limited with the failure of the Luay Salah deal.