In a rather bizarre turn of events, Cristiano Ronaldo has been conspicuously excluded from Al Nassr’s promotional video leading up to the launch of their new kit for the 23/24 season.
After concluding his second spell with Manchester United on a sour note, Ronaldo made a surprising move away from European football.
Opting for a fresh challenge, the football superstar joined the Saudi Arabian side Al Nassr.
Since his signing, the club has experienced remarkable merchandise sales, with around 400 of his shirts reportedly being sold every single day.
However, ahead of Al Nassr’s highly anticipated new kit launch, fans and observers have noticed the absence of Ronaldo from the promotional video. The reason behind this decision remains a point of curiosity and speculation among football enthusiasts.
You can watch the footage below.
What if we launched our new kit in the 80’s with a classical AlNassr song 😂💛#BringTheInsideOut pic.twitter.com/WT0uhw0x3B
— AlNassr FC (@AlNassrFC_EN) July 25, 2023
New signings such as Marcelo Brozovic, Alex Telles and Seko Fofana were all included but Ronaldo was nowhere to be seen.
Fans were quick to react on social media.
One said: “No Ronaldo I notice. Wonder what that means.”
Another tweeted: “Where is Ronaldo?”
A third fan added: “Reckon Ronaldo told them pay me another 100 mil or I’m dodging.”
Someone else wrote: “Ronaldo too important for kit launches now? Weird considering that all Al-Nassr sell is Ronaldo shirts.”
Whilst a fifth commented: “Very strange to not include Ronaldo, who is the league’s biggest star.”
Since Cristiano Ronaldo’s arrival, Saudi Arabia has shown a willingness to invest heavily in an effort to attract some of football’s biggest names to the Saudi Professional League.
Notably, renowned players like Karim Benzema, Roberto Firmino, N’Golo Kante, Edouard Mendy, and Kalidou Koulibaly have all made moves to Saudi Arabian clubs.
During the pre-season, Al Nassr has recorded victories against Alverca and Farense. However, they faced a significant setback with a 5-0 defeat at the hands of Spanish La Liga side Celta Vigo and a 4-1 loss to Portuguese club Benfica.
In a high-profile match on Tuesday, Al Nassr managed a goalless draw against the formidable French giants, Paris Saint Germain, at the Nagai Stadium in Osaka, Japan.