Transfer news expert Fabrizio Romano has provided his insight into the Cristiano Ronaldo situation with Al Nassr, admitting that the Portuguese superstar is “upset”.
The 41-year-old is currently refusing to play for Al Nassr, as reported by ESPN, who also state that his long-term future with the Saudi Pro League club could be in serious doubt.
Romano has admitted that Ronaldo is not happy at the moment, but he also stressed that people shouldn’t be overreacting to the situation and talking up a transfer away for the player at this stage.
It will be interesting to see how this develops, but for now it seems that Romano does not necessarily see this as the beginning of the end for Ronaldo at Al Nassr.
Fabrizio Romano on Cristiano Ronaldo’s situation at Al Nassr
Speaking on his YouTube channel, Romano said: “I can tell you that Cristiano remains upset. Cristiano remains upset with the situation.
“I told you in a video yesterday, let’s not overreact – Cristiano to MLS, Cristiano breaking his contract, and this kind of stuff. For now, let’s not overreact.
“But for the present, to give you an update, to give you news, Cristiano Ronaldo, according to my information, will not play a crucial game on Friday because Cristiano has no injury, no fitness management, no physical problems.
“So, forget about that. Cristiano is fit but Cristiano will not be without squad exactly as he did a few days ago. Why? Because Cristiano remains upset with the management from the Saudi group, especially PIF, that is taking care of several clubs in Saudi.”
He added: “Again I told you yesterday guys I’m not here to speak for Cristiano Ronaldo. I am not one to speak for Cristiano Ronaldo. There will be Cristiano clarifying. There will be people close to Cristiano clarifying.
“There will be Al Nassr for sure also clarifying. So it’s not my duty to come here and tell you what’s going on, but it’s my duty to tell you what I’m hearing. And my information is that Cristiano is not happy with the current situation and with what happened in this transfer window.”
What next for Cristiano Ronaldo?
If Ronaldo doesn’t stay at Al Nassr then there will inevitably be big speculation about where he could end up next, and if we could see him back in Europe.
The Portugal international remains a top player and even at the age of 41 he may well still fancy himself to play for a big club in a competitive league.
At the same time, however, there probably aren’t too many clubs who can afford his astronomical wages, while it also seems a bit risky to be moving for someone who is surely not too far away now from retiring from football altogether.