Al-Nassr’s new signing, Cristiano Ronaldo will have to wait before making his debut for his new club as he is yet to serve his suspension for smashing the phone of an Everton fan last year, according to Daily Mail.
This means Ronaldo will not make his Al-Nassr debut on Thursday evening when they host Al-Ta’ee in a Saudi Pro League tie.
Recall that the English FA had handed Ronaldo a two-match ban for smashing the phone of an Everton fan last April.
Apart from that, there are other factors preventing the former Manchester United forward from making his debut.
Al-Nassr will have to offload a foreign player and get a certificate of competence from the Saudi Arabian Football Federation (SAFF) before fielding the Portugal captain.
Also, Al-Nassr coach Rudi Garcia indicated that he would wait for Ronaldo to return to full fitness as he took the field for the last time on December 10, 2022, during Portugal’s 2022 FIFA World Cup quarter-final defeat to Morocco.
Ronaldo recently said on Tuesday that many clubs from across the world tried to sign him before his eventual move to Al-Nassr.
The five-time Ballon d’Or winner stated this during his first interview as an Al-Nassr player on Tuesday evening.
The 37-year-old said, “Nobody knows, but I can say now that I had many opportunities in Europe, many clubs in Brazil, in Australia, in the US, even in Portugal, many clubs tried to sign me.”