Cristiano Ronaldo's Al-Nassr complete deadline day signing of Saudi Arabian star
On deadline day of the Saudi transfer window on Thursday (September 8), Cristiano Ronaldo's Al-Nassr snapped up goalkeeper Raghed Al-Najjar Nasrawi. The Saudi Arabia international has signed a deal with the Saudi Pro League giants till 2026.
Al-Alami have been busy in the summer transfer market, making a lot of high-profile signings. They snapped up winger Otavio from Porto for €60 million, attacker Sadio Mane for €30 million from Bayern Munich and Manchester City centre-back Aymeric Laporte for €27.5 million.
Other arrivals include defensive midfielder Marcelo Brozovic from Inter Milan, left-back Alex Telles from Manchester United and now Al-Najjar Nasrawi from fellow SPL side Al-Taawoun.
Al-Nassr announced the arrival of the Saudi international goalkeeper with a tweet that read (as translated from Arabic):
"Saudi national team goalkeeper Raghed Al-Najjar Nasrawi until 2026"
Luis Castro's expensively assembled squad will look to better their second-placed finish last season. With nine points from five games this campaign, they club are currently sixth in the standings, four behind leaders Al-Hilal and Al-Taawoun.
How have Cristiano Ronaldo and Al-Nassr fared this season?
Al-Nassr started the 2023-24 season by beating Al-Hilal in the Arab Club Champions Cup final.
They couldn't continue their winning ways in the Saudi Pro League, slumping to defeats in their opening two games. Without Ronaldo, they fell to a 2-1 defeat at Al-Ettifaq on the opening day.
The Portuguese returned in the next game but couldn't help avert a disappointing 2-0 home loss to Al-Taawoun. The team returned to winning ways in the AFC Champions League playoffs, registering a come-from-behind 4-2 win over Shahab Al-Ahli 4-2, with Ronaldo bagging an assist.
Their sparkling form continued in the Saudi Pro League. They registered their first win of the season at Al-Fateh, winning 5-0, where Cristiano Ronaldo scored his first hat-trick for Al-Alami.
The team then romped to a 4-0 win at home to Al Shahab and a 5-1 win at Al-Hazem, with Ronaldo contributing three goals. His lone strike in the Al-Hazem win made him the first male player to score 850 international goals for club and country. Cristiano Ronaldo currently has six goals in as many outings so far this season.
Following the international break, Al-Nassr and Ronaldo return to league action at Al-Raed on September 16.