Cristiano Ronaldo banned from making Al-Nassr debut on Thursday as he has to serve 2-game suspension for smashing phone: Reports
As per a report in The Daily Mail, Cristiano Ronaldo will have to wait before making his Al-Nassr debut as he is yet to serve his suspension for smashing the phone of an Everton fan in April 2022.
The FA handed Ronaldo a two-match ban following the incident last year. But even aside from that, there are other factors that could prevent the Portuguese from making his debut immediately.
Al-Nassr will have to get rid of a foreign player and get a certificate of competence from the Saudi Arabian Football Federation (SAFF) before fielding Ronaldo. Furthermore, Al-Nassr coach Rudi Garcia indicated that he would wait for Ronaldo to return to full fitness. The 37-year-old last took the field on December 10, during Portugal's 2022 FIFA World Cup quarter-final loss to Morocco.
Cristiano Ronaldo arriving to train today.
https://t.co/JxuJYH6JNa
Ronaldo recently said that many clubs from across the globe tried to sign him before his eventual move to Al-Nassr. The Portuguese made this revelation in his first interview as an Al-Nassr player (via GOAL):
"Nobody knows but I can say now that I had many opportunities in Europe, many clubs in Brazil, in Australia, in US, even in Portugal, many clubs tried to sign me."
He went on to add:
"But I give credit to this club for the opportunity to develop not only the football but this amazing country. I know what I want and, of course, what I don't want as well."
Ronaldo will earn a reported salary of €200 million per year in Saudi Arabia. The deal makes the five-time Ballon d'Or winner the highest-paid player in the history of the sport.
Cristiano Ronaldo will look to break more records in Asia
Cristiano Ronaldo left Europe after a trophy-laden spell. He won the UEFA Champions League five times, and finished as the highest goalscorer in the history of the competition with 143 goals.
Ronaldo was also the highest goalscorer in the history of Real Madrid, with 450 goals in 438 games.
Majed Abdullah is the highest scorer in the history of Al-Nassr with 189 goals in 194 games. Ronaldo is tied to a contract with the club for two-and-a-half-years; the deal will expire in 2025.
Considering Ronaldo's standards, it wouldn't be surprising to see him break that record as well and leave his mark in Asia after Europe.
Al Nassr had less than 500K followers before announcing the signing of Cristiano Ronaldo.
Since then, they've gained over 8.6 MILLION followers in less than one week and have more followers than ALL these clubs 🤯 https://t.co/IWbYX2TRmI