Saudi Professional League 2023/2024

[Sithara007]

In this matter, it seems that PIF has even met with Cristiano Ronaldo and it appears that a good agreement has been reached. This is because Cristiano Ronaldo even fought for his teammates' salaries, some of which had apparently been paid late. It is also reported that Al-Nassr club now has more freedom in certain matters. it is no surprise that we did not see Cristiano Ronaldo in the AFC match, as he typically does not or rarely plays in this competition. He is more focused on the saudi pro league, although in some matches he did refuse to play. however, it is reported that he will participate in the next match as usual. At least that's the news I've seen and what's circulating at the moment.

When was the agreement reached? I can't find anything in social media. As per latest reports, Ronaldo is still adamant regarding his decision to strike and he is likely to miss Al Nassr's next match (versus Al Fateh this Saturday). Initially I was a bit sympathetic to Ronaldo. But with more details emerging, now I think that he went a bit too far. PIF may be favoring Al Hilal. But he has no right to be upset about it. His duty is to play for his club (which he is not performing at the moment) and help them to win matches. Why he should bother about PIF funding to Al Hilal? PIF will fund whomever they like.

[X-ray]

Fabrizio Romano
@FabrizioRomano
🚨🔵 Darwin Núñez and Pablo Marí are both out of Al Hilal squad list for the Saudi Pro League.

Following Benzema’s arrival, Darwin will only be available for the Asian Champions League and not for the domestic league games.

I'm very disappointed with how Nunez killed his career as a footballer faster than i thought. He moved to saudi for the more minutes and money, yet Al Hilal is kicking him out from their SPL squad just after Benzema arrived.

They're just killing his career as a footballer. At this point he must go back to the european instead of staying in Hilal. The longer he stay, the worse for his career as a footballer.

[BRINIRHA]

In this matter, it seems that PIF has even met with Cristiano Ronaldo and it appears that a good agreement has been reached. This is because Cristiano Ronaldo even fought for his teammates' salaries, some of which had apparently been paid late. It is also reported that Al-Nassr club now has more freedom in certain matters. it is no surprise that we did not see Cristiano Ronaldo in the AFC match, as he typically does not or rarely plays in this competition. He is more focused on the saudi pro league, although in some matches he did refuse to play. however, it is reported that he will participate in the next match as usual. At least that's the news I've seen and what's circulating at the moment.

When was the agreement reached? I can't find anything in social media. As per latest reports, Ronaldo is still adamant regarding his decision to strike and he is likely to miss Al Nassr's next match (versus Al Fateh this Saturday). Initially I was a bit sympathetic to Ronaldo. But with more details emerging, now I think that he went a bit too far. PIF may be favoring Al Hilal. But he has no right to be upset about it. His duty is to play for his club (which he is not performing at the moment) and help them to win matches. Why he should bother about PIF funding to Al Hilal? PIF will fund whomever they like.

Just try searching for keywords about the meeting between PIF and Cristiano Ronaldo regarding the resolution of this issue. Actually, this news has been circulating on Facebook, Instagram, and X and even in several local articles in my country since a few days ago. Although this is still just a rumor, its authenticity will be proven whether it is true or not depending on the Al-nassr vs. Al-Fateh match on the 14th. If Cristiano Ronaldo plays in that match, then the articles and news on social media are true.

If you need an example, i can send you one Instagram link discussing this. Personally, I cannot confirm its authenticity due to the lack of official sources. However, this news has spread quite widely. Perhaps because I follow a lot of news about Al-Nassr, my social media feed is always filled with speculation and news about them.

Link:
1. https://www.instagram.com/p/DUk5Nc1AhOe/
2. https://x.com/Bolanet/status/2021055974652641498

[Sithara007]

Just try searching for keywords about the meeting between PIF and Cristiano Ronaldo regarding the resolution of this issue. Actually, this news has been circulating on Facebook, Instagram, and X and even in several local articles in my country since a few days ago. Although this is still just a rumor, its authenticity will be proven whether it is true or not depending on the Al-nassr vs. Al-Fateh match on the 14th. If Cristiano Ronaldo plays in that match, then the articles and news on social media are true.

If you need an example, i can send you one Instagram link discussing this. Personally, I cannot confirm its authenticity due to the lack of official sources. However, this news has spread quite widely. Perhaps because I follow a lot of news about Al-Nassr, my social media feed is always filled with speculation and news about them.

Link:
1. https://www.instagram.com/p/DUk5Nc1AhOe/
2. https://x.com/Bolanet/status/2021055974652641498

How reliable are these sources? I still can't find anything from reliable sources such as ESPN or Goal. Al Nassr management already gave into Ronaldo's demands a month or so ago (regarding change of coach and replacement of some of the players). And in less than two months, he is making fresh demands (this time with the PIF). If the Saudis give in again, then they maybe viewed as weak. And I don't foresee any sign of Ronaldo giving in. And this would mean only one thing - Ronaldo leaving the Saudi Professional League, and moving back to Europe (probably to one of his previous clubs).

[jostorres]

The greatest thing that could happen for Al Nassr actually happened with this move. Ronaldo had to play almost every game because they are paying him so much and he is a marketing move and not someone they needed.

The reality is that, if Ronaldo didn't move to Al Nassr then nobody else would have moved there neither, it wouldn't be a known league and Ronaldo made this league known and because of that they had to play him every game. But because he decided to sit out, now they know they can win without him too.

I agree. Not the part about Ronaldo not being good, he is still good, but not 200 million worth of good, that was only for marketing and not for his talents. So if they eventually agree to part ways, I agree that they can spend that 200 million and get much better players who will help a lot more.

There are a dozen players who get paid 50 million or less in Saudi Arabia and the yare all happy. You can get like 5-6 prime level players who are playing their best and it could work very well for them. Wouldn't be easy of course but it wouldn't be impossible to convince neither. Being the replacement for Ronaldo would not be good for many, they would fear what they will do, but many will also accept the task for that much money.

[BRINIRHA]

Just try searching for keywords about the meeting between PIF and Cristiano Ronaldo regarding the resolution of this issue. Actually, this news has been circulating on Facebook, Instagram, and X and even in several local articles in my country since a few days ago. Although this is still just a rumor, its authenticity will be proven whether it is true or not depending on the Al-nassr vs. Al-Fateh match on the 14th. If Cristiano Ronaldo plays in that match, then the articles and news on social media are true.

If you need an example, i can send you one Instagram link discussing this. Personally, I cannot confirm its authenticity due to the lack of official sources. However, this news has spread quite widely. Perhaps because I follow a lot of news about Al-Nassr, my social media feed is always filled with speculation and news about them.

Link:
1. https://www.instagram.com/p/DUk5Nc1AhOe/
2. https://x.com/Bolanet/status/2021055974652641498

How reliable are these sources? I still can't find anything from reliable sources such as ESPN or Goal. Al Nassr management already gave into Ronaldo's demands a month or so ago (regarding change of coach and replacement of some of the players). And in less than two months, he is making fresh demands (this time with the PIF). If the Saudis give in again, then they maybe viewed as weak. And I don't foresee any sign of Ronaldo giving in. And this would mean only one thing - Ronaldo leaving the Saudi Professional League, and moving back to Europe (probably to one of his previous clubs).

I have already said that I personally cannot confirm the truth of this because of the limitations of the original source. but it's always like this with news about soccer speculation and everything else that makes soccer news so exciting to follow. Like the rumors about Mbappe joining Real Madrid—there was never any official news, just social media posts and reports from unverified websites. Yet sometimes those rumors turn out to be true. this might just be a rumor or something similar. we don’t need to stress over its accuracy. Personally, I don’t dwell on it too much. besides waiting for the Al-Nassr vs. Al-Fateh match next Sunday. Let’s just wait and see if Cristiano Ronaldo will actually play in that match or not. Everything is unclear and just speculation. So, there’s no need to take it too seriously.

Even the latest report you mentioned about Cristiano Ronaldo insisting on his decision to go on strike, even in the match against Al-Fateh, cannot be confirmed as true and is only a rumor. So it's the same thing. We will only know the answer when the match starts. This is just a piece of news circulating on social media.

[Juicyhome]

I'm very disappointed with how Nunez killed his career as a footballer faster than i thought. He moved to saudi for the more minutes and money, yet Al Hilal is kicking him out from their SPL squad just after Benzema arrived.

They're just killing his career as a footballer. At this point he must go back to the european instead of staying in Hilal. The longer he stay, the worse for his career as a footballer.

He failed to improve, is his fault not Benezam or the club every team wants a sharp strike and he's not a good one, he should find a club to play, you can't keep a player that's not giving the club the desire results. It's a good decision by the club so they can fit in those that will help the team.
 
In Liverpool he flopped , and couldn't even shine in the Saudi Arabia pro league, he's working hard enough to fit in the club,  Al Hilal is just one point ahead of Al-nassr in the league title race the club knows the best for them at this point.

[Nheer]

I'm very disappointed with how Nunez killed his career as a footballer faster than i thought. He moved to saudi for the more minutes and money, yet Al Hilal is kicking him out from their SPL squad just after Benzema arrived.

They're just killing his career as a footballer. At this point he must go back to the european instead of staying in Hilal. The longer he stay, the worse for his career as a footballer.

Some players are just not lucky and I will classify Nunez as one of those that is not lucky in his career. Although he was given many opportunities  to show what he is capable at Liverpool but he failed to utilize them and that's why many people don't see his worth anymore. Moving to Saudi Arabia League is a good idea and Al Hilal is a good team to join but with Benzema joining them I don't see why Nunez should be starting ahead of Benzema.
This things happen in football so i think it's left for him to work harder and prove to them that he is capable else he would be used as substitute. I think his performance at Liverpool caused it all. We all know Al Hilal is a team that demands the best from players, maybe Nunez is showing signs of underperformance.

[ShowOff]

-

How reliable are these sources? I still can't find anything from reliable sources such as ESPN or Goal. Al Nassr management already gave into Ronaldo's demands a month or so ago (regarding change of coach and replacement of some of the players). And in less than two months, he is making fresh demands (this time with the PIF). If the Saudis give in again, then they maybe viewed as weak. And I don't foresee any sign of Ronaldo giving in. And this would mean only one thing - Ronaldo leaving the Saudi Professional League, and moving back to Europe (probably to one of his previous clubs).

I think that regardless of whether the information is true or not, if Ronaldo returns to Europe for any reason, it would disrupt the long-term plans of the PIF, which aims to advance the Saudi Pro League. Meanwhile, it is clear that not all of Ronaldo’s demands can be fulfilled, and the budget allocation he is reportedly seeking is clearly beyond his authority as a player. Overall, I see the rumor as one way for Saudi to gain public attention. However, if it turns out to be true and Cristiano Ronaldo leaves, the rift would clearly be part of a pre-planned scenario. Ronaldo may want to return to his former club Sporting CP before retiring.

[Franctoshi]

The greatest thing that could happen for Al Nassr actually happened with this move. Ronaldo had to play almost every game because they are paying him so much and he is a marketing move and not someone they needed.

The reality is that, if Ronaldo didn't move to Al Nassr then nobody else would have moved there neither, it wouldn't be a known league and Ronaldo made this league known and because of that they had to play him every game. But because he decided to sit out, now they know they can win without him too.

I agree. Not the part about Ronaldo not being good, he is still good, but not 200 million worth of good, that was only for marketing and not for his talents. So if they eventually agree to part ways, I agree that they can spend that 200 million and get much better players who will help a lot more.

There are a dozen players who get paid 50 million or less in Saudi Arabia and the yare all happy. You can get like 5-6 prime level players who are playing their best and it could work very well for them. Wouldn't be easy of course but it wouldn't be impossible to convince neither. Being the replacement for Ronaldo would not be good for many, they would fear what they will do, but many will also accept the task for that much money.

A very good and talented play wouldn't fear being a Ronaldo replacement, I don't really see this part as even a problem. Ronaldo is becoming a weak striker as each day unfolds due to his age and the best thing Al Nassr can now is begin to make his replacement arrangements, even though they didn't sell Ronaldo now but the player will be on the ground standby ready to do his job.

[snipie]

Al-Taawoun is facing a big problem maintaining good results these days. Even Damac, a team hovering around the relegation zone was able to win against them. This is their third defeat in just five rounds with only 4 points collected now. They are sitting in the 5th position for the moment and a high gap started to get higher and higher.
For Al-Nassr they will face Al Fateh. For Al-Hilal, Al-Ettifaq will be their opponent. Although both top teams are expected to win but Al-Hilal might drop points here.

[Sithara007]

I think that regardless of whether the information is true or not, if Ronaldo returns to Europe for any reason, it would disrupt the long-term plans of the PIF, which aims to advance the Saudi Pro League. Meanwhile, it is clear that not all of Ronaldo’s demands can be fulfilled, and the budget allocation he is reportedly seeking is clearly beyond his authority as a player. Overall, I see the rumor as one way for Saudi to gain public attention. However, if it turns out to be true and Cristiano Ronaldo leaves, the rift would clearly be part of a pre-planned scenario. Ronaldo may want to return to his former club Sporting CP before retiring.

In my opinion, the PIF should not further bow down to Ronaldo. His demands this time are clearly illogical. And even if Ronaldo quits the SPL and moves to Europe, the dent to the viewership may not be as severe as everyone is anticipating. Look at the viewership for Al Nassr's recent matches (during Ronaldo's strike). These matches managed to attract decent viewership figures. And also we need to remember that Ronaldo is in his 40s. He has a contract until early 2027. This means that the SPL need to adjust without Ronaldo sometime in the near future, even if he returns from his strike.

[dezoel]

Honestly, I sort of understand why Ronaldo wouldn't play in the league games, still find it absurd and I think he is being a cry baby about it, but at least he gave a reason for it. But not playing in the AFC neither? That part makes no sense and would have been smart to just play there.

It seems that Ronaldo just postpones his 1000 goal record at this point and it is not even like team achievement anymore. Plus Al Nassr seem to just play many of the native players instead, very few foreign players played here and they still managed to win.

[Ale88]

Fabrizio Romano
@FabrizioRomano
🚨🔵 Darwin Núñez and Pablo Marí are both out of Al Hilal squad list for the Saudi Pro League.

Following Benzema’s arrival, Darwin will only be available for the Asian Champions League and not for the domestic league games.

I'm very disappointed with how Nunez killed his career as a footballer faster than i thought. He moved to saudi for the more minutes and money, yet Al Hilal is kicking him out from their SPL squad just after Benzema arrived.

They're just killing his career as a footballer. At this point he must go back to the european instead of staying in Hilal. The longer he stay, the worse for his career as a footballer.

Who is killing his career? Al Hilal? Why? He is just an overrated player who is incredibly lucky to earn a crazy amount of money he clearly doesn't deserve. Núñez has been one of the biggest flops of the recent years. He chose money over career, and probably he did the right choice because I don't know what European team could still be interested in him at this point. I also wonder what is going to happen with the World Cup since he won't be playing for the next months...

[Sithara007]

Who is killing his career? Al Hilal? Why? He is just an overrated player who is incredibly lucky to earn a crazy amount of money he clearly doesn't deserve. Núñez has been one of the biggest flops of the recent years. He chose money over career, and probably he did the right choice because I don't know what European team could still be interested in him at this point. I also wonder what is going to happen with the World Cup since he won't be playing for the next months...

Agreed on Darwin Núñez. He has been a flop till now. He moved to Al Hilal last year from Liverpool. Since then he has played 16 matches for them, scoring only 6 times. Now compare this with someone like Cristiano Ronaldo or Ivan Toney, who are scoring close to a goal per match. Al Hilal did the right thing by sidelining him in favor of Karim Benzema. Núñez hasn't scored a single goal in his last 8 outings. The last time he scored a goal was more than a month ago, in a Saudi Professional League match against the weak Al Hazm. He is a promising young player, but current form is simply not acceptable.

[Gallar]

I'm very disappointed with how Nunez killed his career as a footballer faster than i thought. He moved to saudi for the more minutes and money, yet Al Hilal is kicking him out from their SPL squad just after Benzema arrived.

They're just killing his career as a footballer. At this point he must go back to the european instead of staying in Hilal. The longer he stay, the worse for his career as a footballer.

Yes, it seems Nunez's fate in the Saudi Arabian League is not good, because he certainly would not have imagined that Al Hilal would recruit another striker better than him. So that's why he was willing to join Al Hilal. But as we know, Al Hilal's performance this season is not very good and for a long time behind Al Nasr in the Saudi Arabian League standings.

So, Al Hilal took the initiative to bring Benzema to their team to improve their attack line. Therefore, all of this is beyond the plan and probably never imagined by Nunez before. So if it's like this, I think Nunez would be better off leaving again for Europe if there is a better offer. But if there is no good offer, he will surely be forced to stay at Al Hilal for a while.

[Catenaccio]

Agreed on Darwin Núñez. He has been a flop till now. He moved to Al Hilal last year from Liverpool. Since then he has played 16 matches for them, scoring only 6 times. Now compare this with someone like Cristiano Ronaldo or Ivan Toney, who are scoring close to a goal per match. Al Hilal did the right thing by sidelining him in favor of Karim Benzema. Núñez hasn't scored a single goal in his last 8 outings. The last time he scored a goal was more than a month ago, in a Saudi Professional League match against the weak Al Hazm. He is a promising young player, but current form is simply not acceptable.

Nunez does not have high accuracy with his shots and he wasted many opportunities even he has good height, speed and very strong physically, he is not a too goal productive striker. With strikers, their main task is scoring goals and Nunez even moved to Saudi Professional League and played for one of strongest clubs there, still has been unable to score more goals. Benzema was not happy with Ittihad and decided to move but he is very old and I think that if Nunez stays in Al Hilal like two more seasons, soon he will become their main striker again. Meanwhile Nunez must focus on training for sharpening his shotting skills and accuracy, he somewhat can learn from Benzema too.

Yes, it seems Nunez's fate in the Saudi Arabian League is not good, because he certainly would not have imagined that Al Hilal would recruit another striker better than him. So that's why he was willing to join Al Hilal. But as we know, Al Hilal's performance this season is not very good and for a long time behind Al Nasr in the Saudi Arabian League standings.

So, Al Hilal took the initiative to bring Benzema to their team to improve their attack line. Therefore, all of this is beyond the plan and probably never imagined by Nunez before. So if it's like this, I think Nunez would be better off leaving again for Europe if there is a better offer. But if there is no good offer, he will surely be forced to stay at Al Hilal for a while.

In short term, his main striker position in Al Hilal lost to Benzema but in long term, his future is not too bad as Benzema can help Al Hilal winning Saudi Professional League title and Nunez can enjoy it too. While during training and playing time with each other, Nunez will be able to learn many things from Benzema that can be very helpful for his career. He still has many years ahead in his career and there is enough time for Nunez to upgrade himself for becoming more goal productive.

[Sim_card]

Fabrizio Romano
@FabrizioRomano
🚨🔵 Darwin Núñez and Pablo Marí are both out of Al Hilal squad list for the Saudi Pro League.

Following Benzema’s arrival, Darwin will only be available for the Asian Champions League and not for the domestic league games.

I'm very disappointed with how Nunez killed his career as a footballer faster than i thought. He moved to saudi for the more minutes and money, yet Al Hilal is kicking him out from their SPL squad just after Benzema arrived.

They're just killing his career as a footballer. At this point he must go back to the european instead of staying in Hilal. The longer he stay, the worse for his career as a footballer.

Who will you put the blame on Al Hilal or Nunez. He's not meeting up to expectations which is the main reason they signed Benzema and as you can see, Nunez is already out from the team squad showing that they don't need his service anymore. I blame him for moving to SPL and no one else.

[savetheFORUM]

22nd round is underway at top title race is going fierce Al Hilal leading with 50 points, their next game is going to start in few minutes, currently Al Ahli is entertaining Al Shabab where 6 goals already scored in 44 minutes of first half visitors leading by 2–4.

Riyad Mahrez is hero for the Al Ahli as they are fighting hard for staying in top ranks while things are going to be on level, Al Nassr going to play their game tomorrow against Al Fateh yesterday Al Qadsiah secure narrow win, now they are at 4th with 47 points Al Taawon losing points which bring them to 5th spot defending champions Al Ittihad currently at 7th spot with chance of going at 6th but now it's almost end for them in this season.

[Richbased]

22nd round is underway at top title race is going fierce Al Hilal leading with 50 points, their next game is going to start in few minutes, currently Al Ahli is entertaining Al Shabab where 6 goals already scored in 44 minutes of first half visitors leading by 2–4.

Riyad Mahrez is hero for the Al Ahli as they are fighting hard for staying in top ranks while things are going to be on level, Al Nassr going to play their game tomorrow against Al Fateh yesterday Al Qadsiah secure narrow win, now they are at 4th with 47 points Al Taawon losing points which bring them to 5th spot defending champions Al Ittihad currently at 7th spot with chance of going at 6th but now it's almost end for them in this season.

Al Hilal won their opponent Ettifaq by 2:0, they scored the 2 goals all the way from the first half and they couldn't score any goals in the second half. Al Ahli Jeddah later ended their match in a score of 2:5.

Al Ahli Jeddah has been very consistent in the title race and even as Riyad Mahrez is trying his best for the team, i think that the one who deserves more of the praises is Ivan Toney because this dude have been scoring in almost all Al Ahli Jeddah matches so he should be recognized as one of the pioneers of the team.

I hope that Al Nassr will win their match against Al Fateh tomorrow so that they can still keep up with the gap of one point against Al Hilal. Am surprised as how Al Ittihad declined in performance this season when they were supposed to be among the title contenders since they are the defending champions.