Cristiano Ronaldo’s future at Al-Nassr is uncertain after the club left him out of the squad for Monday’s Saudi Pro League match against Al-Riyadh.
According to Portuguese outlet A Bola, the 40-year-old forward is refusing to play after becoming increasingly frustrated with how the club is being run by Saudi Arabia’s Public Investment Fund (PIF). Al-Nassr is one of several Saudi clubs controlled by the PIF, along with Al-Hilal — the nation’s most successful team with 19 league titles. The fund also owns Premier League side Newcastle United.
Ronaldo joined Al-Nassr in late 2022 following his mid-season departure from Manchester United. His move made him the highest-paid player in football history, earning an estimated £177 million per year. Despite his star power, his only trophy with the club has been the 2023 Arab Club Champions Cup. He signed a new two-year contract in June 2025, though speculation about his future persisted even before the deal was finalized, including reports linking him to rivals Al-Hilal.
The latest developments in Riyadh are likely to intensify rumors about Ronaldo’s situation — and raise questions about what has gone wrong at Al-Nassr.
On the field, Ronaldo has continued to deliver goals. He scored 14 times during the 2022–23 Saudi Pro League season after joining midway through the campaign. He has since finished as the league’s top scorer in back-to-back seasons, netting 35 goals and then 25.
After being named Best Middle East Player at the Globe Soccer Awards in December, Ronaldo said his goals remain unchanged: winning trophies and reaching 1,000 career goals. He scored his 17th goal of the current season against Al-Kholood on Friday, bringing his career total to 961 — just 39 short of the milestone.
Team success, however, has been harder to come by. Al-Nassr finished second in the league in Ronaldo’s first two seasons before dropping to third last year, 13 points behind champions Al-Ittihad. They also lost the 2023–24 King’s Cup final to Al-Hilal on penalties and were eliminated in the Asian Champions League Elite semifinals last season by Japan’s Kawasaki Frontale. This year, they are competing in the second-tier Asian Champions League Two.
Meanwhile, domestic rivals Al-Ahli captured the Asian Champions League title last year with a squad that included Riyad Mahrez, Roberto Firmino and Ivan Toney. Ronaldo has also watched former Real Madrid teammate Karim Benzema and Portugal teammate Ruben Neves win Saudi league titles during his time at Al-Nassr.
Al-Nassr is considered one of Saudi Arabia’s “big four” clubs, alongside Al-Hilal, Al-Ahli and Al-Ittihad, all of which benefited from major investment following the PIF takeover in 2023. Saudi clubs spent roughly £700 million during the 2023 summer transfer window, highlighted by Neymar’s £77.6 million move to Al-Hilal.
Al-Hilal also added Aleksandar Mitrović and Neves, while Al-Nassr signed players such as Aymeric Laporte, Sadio Mané, Marcelo Brozović and Alex Telles. Al-Ahli brought in Mahrez, Edouard Mendy and Firmino, and Al-Ittihad landed N’Golo Kanté, Fabinho and Jota.
Despite these signings, only Al-Hilal, Al-Ahli and Al-Ittihad have gone on to win major trophies. Al-Nassr has not.
Recent transfer windows suggest Al-Nassr may also be falling behind financially. Since last summer, the club has spent less than newly promoted Neom SC and Al-Qadsiah. Al-Qadsiah, in particular, has invested heavily, signing Mateo Retegui from Atalanta and young Ghanaian winger Christopher Bonsu Baah from Genk.
Al-Nassr did bring in João Félix from Chelsea for £43.7 million and Kingsley Coman from Bayern Munich last summer, but the club has been relatively quiet in the January transfer window, even while battling Al-Hilal and Al-Ahli for the league title. Al-Hilal, by contrast, added former Arsenal defender Pablo Marí and highly rated 18-year-old French forward Mohamed Kader Meïté.
Questions are also emerging about the future of Saudi Arabia’s massive investment in sports more broadly. In addition to its football holdings, the PIF backs LIV Golf, sponsors the ATP and WTA tours, and has invested heavily across sports including boxing, Formula 1, WWE and horse racing. Saudi Arabia is also set to host the 2034 FIFA World Cup, the 2027 AFC Asian Cup and the 2034 Asian Games.
However, signs of a slowdown have begun to appear. Last month, the 2029 Asian Winter Games — scheduled to be held in the under-construction city of Neom — were postponed indefinitely. Reports suggest delays in building a planned ski resort contributed to the decision. The ambitious Neom project itself has reportedly been scaled back amid rising costs and construction delays.
The shift is also visible in the Saudi Pro League. After spending more than £1.1 billion since 2023, new regulations introduced by the Ministry of Sport in July 2025 have pushed clubs toward a more financially sustainable and restrained spending model — a change that could have major implications for stars like Ronaldo and clubs like Al-Nassr.