Cristiano Ronaldo left out of Al-Nassr squad: What is going on with the Portugal captain in Saudi Arabia?

Al-Nassr are among Saudi Arabia’s ‘big four’ which also includes Al-Hilal, Al-Ahli and Al-Ittihad – all of whom have invested heavily since PIF’s takeover in 2023.

Saudi clubs spent about £700m during the 2023 summer, with Neymar joining Al-Hilal for £77.6m in the standout move.

Al-Hilal also signed Aleksandar Mitrovic and Neves from Fulham and Wolves, while Al-Nassr added Manchester United’s Alex Telles, Manchester City’s Aymeric Laporte, Bayern Munich’s Sadio Mane and Inter Milan’s Marcelo Brozovic.

Al-Ahli snapped up Mahrez (Manchester City), Edouard Mendy (Chelsea) and Firmino (Liverpool), while Al-Ittihad acquired N’Golo Kante (Chelsea), Fabinho (Liverpool) and Jota (Celtic) among others.

But while Al-Ahli, Al-Ittihad and Al-Hilal have all gone on to win major silverware, Al-Nassr have failed to do so.

Amid a general downturn in Saudi Arabia’s outlay in recent windows, Al-Nassr are also behind newly promoted Neom SC and Al-Qadsiah in spendings since last summer.

Al-Qadsiah have added Mateo Retegui from Atlanta and 20-year-old Ghanaian winger Christopher Bonsu Baah from Genk, and only Al-Hilal have spent more than them since last summer.

Al-Nassr signed Joao Felix from Chelsea for £43.7m along with Kingsley Coman from Bayern Munich in the summer, but have been quiet during the January window, despite being in a three-way battle for the title with Al-Hilal and Al-Ahli.

Their title rivals Al-Hilal signed former Arsenal defender Pablo Mari and Rennes’ highly rated French forward Mohamed Kader Meite, 18, this window.

They have also been linked with a move for Benzema, who has been training alone after falling out with the Al-Ittihad management over his contract extension.