A number of well-known players, including Sadio Mane, Karim Benzema, N’Golo Kante, and even football sensation Neymar, followed in the footsteps of the former Manchester United and Real Madrid talisman after he moved to Saudi Arabia in January 2023. Cristiano Ronaldo was a trailblazer when he left European shores to join Saudi Pro League team Al-Nassr, but now that he is forty years old, reports indicate that his future in the Middle East is seriously doubtful.
Ronaldo, who is considered to be among the greatest football players of all time, was supposed to achieve the 1,000-goal milestone while playing his final game at Al-Nassr. However, there have been rumors that his time might be limited.
Ronaldo’s Future at Al-Nassr Is in Danger
The Saudi Pro League’s best goal scorer is a Portuguese talisman.
According to Spanish publication Marca, Ronaldo, 40, was reportedly ready to sign a new two-year contract recently, but talks have stalled somewhat as the team struggles to win trophies despite having some of the winger-turned-striker’s skills leading the line. Since making the leap two and a half years ago, Ronaldo has been his potent self in front of goal, scoring goals as if they were going out of style. In fact, the seasoned forward has scored 91 goals and provided 19 assists in 103 appearances.
After Al-Nassr’s 3-2 loss against Al-Ittihad on Wednesday, Ronaldo’s team is not expected to make it to the AFC Champions League, and his employers are hesitant to keep him on board if they don’t receive any prizes in exchange.
Ronaldo reportedly departed the stadium without changing after his team’s latest loss, in which Al-Nassr gave up a two-goal lead in the 94th minute. Ronaldo was furious about the outcome and, more significantly, the performance.
However, his antics have alarmed the King Saud University Stadium’s authorities, who are weighing all of their options before extending the record-breaking frontman’s lucrative contract.
Al-Nassr is keen to add additional titles to their collection, thus moving to another Saudi Arabian club has not been ruled out. To make matters worse, they were eliminated from this season’s AFC Champions League by Kawasaki Frontale of the J-League.
With 23 goals in 28 games, Ronaldo leads the Saudi Pro League goal-scoring rankings and is ahead of the talismanic trio of Ivan Toney, Aleksandar Mitrovic, and the aforementioned Benzema. However, Stefano Piolo’s team has found it difficult to stay up.
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