Popular media house carry out interesting Football Manager experiment by giving Cristiano Ronaldo's Al-Nassr an unlimited transfer budget
SPORTbible conducted an experiment on Cristiano Ronaldo's Al-Nassr by giving them an unlimited transfer budget for the summer transfer window. The experiment was conducted on the Football Manager 23 simulation game.
Since Ronaldo joined the Saudi Pro League side, the club have become a popular among fans. The recent experiment saw a few household names join the SPL side.
Pepe, Benjamin Pavard, Kurt Zouma, Joelinton, Rodrigo De Paul, Christian Pulisic, Julian Brandt, Alain Saint-Maximin, David de Gea, Donny van de Beek and others were among the players signed by the Saudi Pro League club. Saint-Maximin became the costliest signing in the simulation game, as Al-Alamy forked out an eye-watering €78 million on the Newcastle United player.
The transfers are certainly enticing for Al-Nassr, to say the least. Cristiano Ronaldo's club haven't fared too bad in reality so far, too. They have secured the signature of Marcelo Brozovic from Inter Milan. While Hakim Ziyech looked set to join the club from Chelsea, the Moroccan failed his medical.
Cristiano Ronaldo outlines his expectations at Al-Nassr for 2023-24 campaign
Cristiano Ronaldo joined Al-Nassr as a free agent on December 31, 2022. He has made 19 appearances for the club across competitions, scoring 14 times and setting up three .
Individually, Ronaldo has been brilliant, as always, but the club ended the season trophyless. Speaking to the Saudi Pro League's official media, Ronaldo addressed his first half season in Riyadh. He also outlined his goals for the second season. The five-time Ballon d'Or winner said:
"My expectation was a little bit different. To be honest. I expected to win something this year. But not always the way things go the way we want. Sometimes we need patience consistency and persistence to achieve things."
He added:
"We improved a lot. Let’s say this last five six months, the team improve a lot. Even the league, all the teams improve and my team as well. It takes time sometimes. But, if you believe it's your goal, I think everything is possible.
"I expected to win something this year, but we didn't. But, next year I am really positive and confident that things will change, and we'll do in a better way. So, let’s believe on that and work on that."
Cristiano Ronaldo and Al-Nassr are set to face increased competition this season. SPL champions Al-Ittihad have signed Karim Benzema and N'Golo Kante. The likes of Roberto Firmino, Kalidou Koulibaly and Eduardo Mendy have also joined the Saudi Pro League.