Cristiano Ronaldo's Al-Nassr teammate handed best U-20 Brazilian player award
Cristiano Ronaldo's Al-Nassr teammate Wesley has won the prestigious Samba Gold award for the best Brazilian footballer under the age of 20. The South American forward joined the Saudi side this summer from Corinthians.
The Samba Gold award, introduced in 2008, is given in three categories - best Brazilian men's player, best women's player and best under-20 player. Vinicius Junior and Tamires won the award in the former two categories.
The U20 Samba Gold award was introduced in 2022, with Real Madrid's Endrick winning it during his time with Palmeiras. Last year, Santos forward Marcos Leonardo was adjudged the Samba Gold winner in this category. He moved to Benfica in January this year, before landing in Al-Hilal over the summer.
Wesley is now the latest recipient of the prestigious trophy. The 19-year-old has registered one goal and two assists from 10 games across competitions for Al-Nassr this season. The Riyadh-based club are currently third in the Saudi Pro League, eight points behind leaders Al-Ittihad.
Unsurprisingly, Cristiano Ronaldo is the club's top scorer once again this season. The Portuguese superstar has registered 15 goals and three assists from 18 games across competitions this season.
The five-time Ballon d'Or winner has shown no signs of slowing down of late. Cristiano Ronaldo arrived in the Middle East in December 2022 after parting ways with Manchester United for the second time.
The Portuguese has since registered 73 goals and 18 assists from 82 games across competitions for Al-Nassr. The player's contract with the Saudi side expires at the end of this season and he hasn't signed a new deal yet.
Will Cristiano Ronaldo extend his stay with Al-Nassr?
Cristiano Ronaldo's contract situation, understandably, continues to make headlines. Last month, he was linked with a reunion with Jose Mourinho at Fenerbahce, but the Portuguese manager was quick to rubbish those claims.
Acclaimed journalist Fabrizio Romano has also confirmed that Ronaldo was never in talks to move to Turkey. Romano has also added that it was quite likely that the player would sign a new deal with Al-Nassr.
The Portuguese has taken the Saudi Pro League to the world stage following his move. Many football superstars have followed his footsteps to move to the Middle East so far.
Ronaldo is the highest-paid footballer in the world, according to Forbes. The Portuguese pockets a handsome $220m per year from his Al-Nassr contract alone. Interestingly, rival Lionel Messi is second on the list, with annual wages of $60m from his Inter Miami contract.