How Al Nassr will line up with Cristiano Ronaldo

Karan Tejwani

• Updated: 3 Jan 2023 14:43 GMT
• 3 min read

Cristiano Ronaldo signed for Al Nassr in Saudi Arabia last week, having become the world’s highest paid player with a contract until 2025.

Ronaldo has been without a club since his contract was terminated by Manchester United in November after his unsanctioned interview with Piers Morgan where he was critical of the club.

That infuriated the club and left them no option but to end the deal between them which opened the door for Al Nassr to move for him.

READ: Real Madrid legend Luka Modric turns down Cristiano Ronaldo reunion

So, how will Al Nassr line up with Ronaldo in the squad?

Ronaldo leads Al Nassr attack

In goal, David Ospina, the former Arsenal goalkeeper, will guard the net having joined the Saudi Arabian club in 2022 from Napoli.

At right-back, there will be Sultan Al-Ghannam, the full-back who played at the World Cup for Saudi Arabia and Ivory Coast player Ghislain Konan will take up the left back spot.

READ: Ronaldo’s new manager admits: I wanted to sign Messi!

At centre-back, Spanish defender Alvaro Gonzalez will be joined by Saudi international Abdulelah Al-Amri in a relatively strong heart of defence.

In midfield, they have plenty of players with international experience, including Luiz Gustavo, the former Bayern Munich and Wolfsburg star who will take up the base of midfield.

He will be joined by Anderson Talisca, the former Benfica player who joined Al Nassr in 2021 having had plenty of experience in Asian football with Guangzhou Evergrande.

Finally, there is Pity Martinez, who has played in South America with River Plate, North America with Atlanta United and is now at Al Nassr.

Up top, Saudi international Abdulrahman Ghareeb will take up a position in attack behind the two forwards with Cameroon’s Vincent Aboubakar being one of the forwards.

They will be supporting Ronaldo, who will take up the position up top and complete the line-up.

It will be interesting to see Ronaldo in this new environment as he looks to make a big impact in Saudi Arabia.