Featured Image Credit: Getty Images & Footy Renders
Topics: Cristiano Ronaldo, Al Nassr, Premier League, Saudi Pro League, Saudi Arabia, Football
Joe Adams
Topics: Cristiano Ronaldo, Al Nassr, Premier League, Saudi Pro League, Saudi Arabia, Football
Saudi Arabia has been the talk of the summer transfer window, so we decided to see how Al Nassr and Cristiano Ronaldo would fare in the Premier League.
A number of high-profile figures have agreed moves to the Middle East including current Ballon d'Or holder Karim Benzema, N'golo Kante and Ruben Neves.
Meanwhile, Steven Gerrard recently accepted a position as the manager of Al Ettifaq, with both Jose Mourinho and Max Allegri having reportedly received offers from Saudi Arabia.
With more and more players and managers opting to ply their trade in the Saudi Pro League, we thought we'd take a look at how Al Nassr, who finished second in the league table last season, would compare against Premier League sides.
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We decided to simulate the 2022/23 campaign on Football Manager 2023, replacing Bournemouth with Al Nassr and the results were very interesting.
So, to answer everyone's burning question, yes, they were relegated. Al Nassr finished in 19th place on 29 points, winning eight games, losing 25 and drawing a further five.
Perhaps, that is exactly what you'd expect, but when examining their season in further detail, it was only during the second half of the campaign where things started to derail, with the club picking up just one victory in their final 12 matches.
Nevertheless, it was a respectable return to the Premier League for Ronaldo, who finished eighth place on the goal scoring charts, notching 14 goals.
But it was 30-year-old attacking midfielder Gonzalo Martinez who topped his side's ratings, managing an average rating of 7.21 compared with Ronaldo's 6.85.
Al Nassr opted for a defensive 3-4-3 formation, with the Portuguese superstar unsurprisingly leading the line.
While we won't see Al Nassr in the Premier League any time soon, nor are we likely to witness Ronaldo back in the English top-flight, the simulation could be an indicator of how far Saudi Arabian football still needs to go to reach the highest level.
However, Ronaldo reckons the Saudi Pro League will see significant development in the next five years, believing it can be one of the top five leagues in the world.
After confirming he would stay at Al Nassr amid speculation he could could return to Real Madrid or join up with German giants Bayern Munich, Ronaldo said: “I am happy here, I want to continue here, I will continue here.
“And in my opinion if they continue to do the work that they want to do here, for the next five years, I think the Saudi League can be a top five league in the world."