{"id":58488,"date":"2026-02-07T17:56:20","date_gmt":"2026-02-07T17:56:20","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/eplbanter.com.ng\/?p=58488"},"modified":"2026-02-07T17:56:20","modified_gmt":"2026-02-07T17:56:20","slug":"saudi-outlet-hails-premier-league-pair-as-ideal-replacements-for-cristiano-ronaldo","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/eplbanter.com.ng\/?p=58488","title":{"rendered":"Saudi outlet hails Premier League pair as ideal replacements for Cristiano Ronaldo"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>A source with close ties to the Saudi Pro League has reportedly suggested that officials are prepared to handle Cristiano Ronaldo potentially leaving Al Nassr.<\/p>\n<p>Ronaldo\u2019s future has become increasingly uncertain after he declined to feature in Al Nassr\u2019s last two matches, raising fresh questions about his long-term plans.<\/p>\n<p>According to iNews, Saudi decision-makers are not overly concerned by the possibility of the Portuguese star\u2019s departure, with several high-profile alternatives already being considered for the summer transfer window.<\/p>\n<p>While Ronaldo remains one of the most recognisable figures in world football, Saudi clubs are believed to be targeting elite Premier League stars as possible successors, including Liverpool\u2019s Mohamed Salah and Manchester United captain Bruno Fernandes.<\/p>\n<p>Saudi source on Ronaldo exit and replacements<\/p>\n<p>Speaking to iNews, the source explained:<br \/>\n\u201cWith several big names expected to move on, we will explore a number of other marquee signings in the summer.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cMohamed Salah and Bruno Fernandes would be ideal options. Salah in particular would have a huge appeal to Arab audiences as a Muslim.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cBringing in either of them, alongside younger talents, would be massive for us and would significantly reduce the impact of losing Ronaldo.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Cristiano Ronaldo\u2019s Al Nassr record<\/p>\n<p>2022\/23: 19 games, 14 goals<\/p>\n<p>2023\/24: 51 games, 50 goals<\/p>\n<p>2024\/25: 41 games, 35 goals<\/p>\n<p>2025\/26: 22 games, 18 goals<\/p>\n<p>Fabrizio Romano urges caution<\/p>\n<p>Despite the growing speculation, transfer expert Fabrizio Romano has played down claims that Ronaldo is certain to leave Al Nassr.<\/p>\n<p>Romano has urged fans to remain calm, suggesting it is still too early to draw firm conclusions about the 41-year-old\u2019s future amid widespread rumours.<\/p>\n<p>Speaking on his YouTube channel earlier this week, Romano said:<br \/>\n\u201cI said yesterday, let\u2019s not overreact. Cristiano to MLS, Cristiano terminating his contract \u2013 there\u2019s a lot of noise right now.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cFor now, according to my information, Cristiano Ronaldo will miss Friday\u2019s crucial match not because of injury, fitness issues or physical problems. He is fully fit.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cCristiano remains unhappy with the management of the Saudi group, particularly the PIF, which oversees several clubs in the league.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>A source with close ties to the Saudi Pro League has reportedly suggested that officials are prepared to handle Cristiano Ronaldo potentially leaving Al Nassr. Ronaldo\u2019s future has become increasingly uncertain after he declined to feature in Al Nassr\u2019s last two matches, raising fresh questions about his long-term plans. According to iNews, Saudi decision-makers are &hellip;<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":18,"featured_media":58489,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-58488","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-uncategorized"],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/eplbanter.com.ng\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/02\/COS-FeaturedHero-Image-Templates-2026-02-07T094613.681-1200x722-1.png","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/eplbanter.com.ng\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/58488","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/eplbanter.com.ng\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/eplbanter.com.ng\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/eplbanter.com.ng\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/18"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/eplbanter.com.ng\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=58488"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/eplbanter.com.ng\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/58488\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":58490,"href":"https:\/\/eplbanter.com.ng\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/58488\/revisions\/58490"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/eplbanter.com.ng\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/58489"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/eplbanter.com.ng\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=58488"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/eplbanter.com.ng\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=58488"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/eplbanter.com.ng\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=58488"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}