Cristiano Ronaldo is expected to be absent from Al-Nassr’s trip to Al-Akhdoud in the Saudi Pro League on Monday (19:00 BST) – and Aymeric Laporte is reportedly close to leaving the club a year before the former Manchester City defender’s contract ends.
Five-time Ballon d’Or winner Ronaldo is the 23-goal top scorer in the division but will miss the game because of a “lack of readiness”, according to Al-Riyadh, with heavily-followed account ByanNassr also naming Ronaldo and Laporte among six players who will not be involved.
The newspaper also reported that Laporte, who joined Al-Nassr from City for £23.6 million in August 2023, has been training individually because of “tensions” with manager Stefano Pioli and is considering several offers from clubs including Marseille, who sealed Champions League qualification and at least a top-three place in France on Saturday.
Najran 📍 pic.twitter.com/KDUpuUsbyd
— AlNassr FC (@AlNassrFC_EN) May 11, 2025
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Why isn’t Cristiano Ronaldo playing for Al Nassr?
Al-Nassr have little to play for after two consecutive defeats, starting with the end of their AFC Champions League campaign courtesy of a 3-2 home loss against J League strugglers Kawasaki in the semi-finals on April 30.
Ronaldo had been rested for their previous league game at Damac, but the all-time record scorer for Real Madrid did not directly contribute to a goal against Kawasaki or in their subsequent 3-2 home defeat against Al-Ittihad on Wednesday.
Al-Ittihad are nine points clear of second-placed Al-Hilal and cannot be caught by fifth-placed Al-Nassr, who are 14 points behind them.
Jhon Duran – signed from Aston Villa for £65m in January – and two-time African Footballer of the Year Sadio Mane are said to be Pioli’s chosen starting attackers against second-bottom Al-Akhdoud, who are four points from safety.
Aymeric Laporte transfer, stats
A Euro 2024 winner with Spain, Laporte has played 69 times and scored nine goals for Al-Nassr, including five goals in 30 appearances this season.
The Champions League and five-time Premier League winner with City netted in the 3-2 win over Damac but was not in the squad against Al-Ittihad and did not start any of Al-Nassr’s six Champions League matches this year.
Cristiano Ronaldo goals
Ronaldo has gone more than three-and-a-half hours without a league goal but is still the top scorer in the Saudi Pro League with 23, followed by Al-Ittihad’s Karim Benzema – Madrid’s second-highest scorer of all time – on 21.
Al-Shabab’s Abderrazak Hamdallah also has 21, while Ivan Toney has 20 for Al-Ahli, the club the England forward joined from Brentford for £40m in August.
Now 40, Ronaldo’s only league win since triumphing in LaLiga with Madrid in 2017 is the 2019/20 Italian title with Juventus.
