Cristiano Ronaldo faces Saudi nightmare as Al-Nassr in ‘£160m monetary disaster’

Cristiano Ronaldo is facing a nightmare situation at Al-Nassr after the Saudi Pro League club have reportedly been thrown in deep financial trouble

Cristiano Ronaldo is facing a major problem at Al-Nassr with the Saudi Pro League club reportedly in deep financial trouble.

Al-Nassr prized Ronaldo to Saudi Arabia to mark the true start of the Saudi Pro League’s place in the global game. Since Ronaldo left Europe in 2023, Saudi clubs have thrown huge fees and money-spinning salaries at some of football’s biggest names.

The question was also when the bubble would burst in the same way as the Chinese Super League years earlier. However, given the Public Investment Funds’ investment in clubs, it appeared that the Saudi project would be here to stay.

JOIN US ON FB! Get all the best sports news and much more on our Facebook page

But according to Saudi publication Al-Riyadiah, Al-Nassr are in debt of 800million riyals (£160m), with the figure stemming entirely from financial decisions made during the last season. The PIF are said to have prohibited new signings without sufficient funds generated from sponsorship or internal revenues.

Al-Nassr won the Saudi Pro League last season under manager Jorge Jesus and stars like Ronaldo, Joao Felix, Sadio Mane, Kingsley Coman and Inigo Martinez.

But the report has thrown the club’s immediate future into turmoil with new manager Ange Postecoglou seemingly about to be restricted in the market.

To make matters worse, Ronaldo was left furious when his former Real Madrid team-mate was controversially sold from Al-Ittihad to Al-Hilal, and not Al-Nassr, in the middle of a title race, despite all three clubs being owned by the PIF.

Ronaldo went on strike to make his anger public before returning to the squad and ending the season in tears as he emotionally celebrated his first major silverware in the Middle East.

PIF are reportedly formulating a plan to right the ship and have identified three key paths which will see the executive management’s financial powers restricted, with an independent financial, commercial and legal firm contracted to increase revenues.

However, the PIF also reportedly have two serious offers on the table to purchase the club. But it’s said they would prefer to sell only part of the club rather than relinquish their entire control.

Postecoglou will lead the team this season and the former Tottenham and Nottingham Forest manager’s first address to his players went viral.

He said: “First thing with me, very simple – respect. Respect above everything else. Don’t need a lot of rules or tell you what to do. Just respect. Respect each other.

“Every day we come here, we appreciate the life we have because we’re all very lucky. We’re blessed to do what we do.

“So I expect every day you come in with a smile on your face. Just try to be the best you can be, every day. It doesn’t mean you will be the best every day because we’re human beings.”