Wetin dey hapun wit Ronaldo for Saudi Arabia?

Cristiano Ronaldo future for Al-Nassr no clear afta im no show for dia squad wey play Saudi Pro League match against Al-Riyadh on Monday.

Portuguese media A Bola report say di 40-year-old refuse to play sake of say e don tire for how Saudi Arabia Public Investment Fund (PIF) dey run di club.

Both Al-Nassr and Al-Hilal - wey be di most successful club for di kontri wit 19 league titles - dey under PIF control, di same bodi wey dey support Newcastle United.

Ronaldo join Al-Nassr for 2022 afta e comot Manchester United mid-season, come turn di highest-paid footballer for history wit about £177m yearly salary. But since den, na only di Arab Club Champions Cup e don win wit di team.

Di five-time Ballon d'Or winner sign new two-year contract for June 2025, although before dat time, rumours bin dey say e fit leave di club, wit possible loan move to rivals Al-Hilal.

BBC Sport sef hear say Al-Hilal pursuit of Karim Benzema na di main reason wey dey cause Ronaldo frustration for Al-Nassr.

Di former France striker and Ronaldo former Real Madrid teammate join Al-Hilal from Al-Ittihad late Monday afta dem terminate im contract. Di 38-year-old bin dey train alone afta quarrel wit Al-Ittihad bosses over contract extension.

One source wey sabi wetin dey hppun for Al-Nassr tok say: "Na just competition - e no like when oda clubs dey get stronger."

Dis latest development for Riyadh go surely add more fuel to di rumours - so wetin really go wrong for Ronaldo time for Al-Nassr?

How Ronaldo don perform for Saudi?

Ronaldo don score plenty goals since e join Al-Nassr, netting 14 goals for di 2022-23 Saudi Pro League afta e sign join the club halfway into di season.

Di Portugal captain still finish as di league top scorer for di last two seasons wit 35 and 25 goals.

After dem name am Best Middle East Player at di Globe Soccer Awards for December, Ronaldo tok say: "You know wetin be my goal. I wan win trophies and I wan reach dat number [1,000 goals] wey una all know. I go reach am for sure, if injury no stop me."

E score im 17th goal of di season against Al-Kholood on Friday, bringing im total career goals to 961 - just 39 goals away from di target.

But trophies no plenty for am.

Al-Nassr finish second for di league in im first two seasons, bifor dem come third last season, 13 points behind champions Al-Ittihad.

Dem also lose di King's Cup final - di local cup competition for 2023-24 afta Al-Hilal beat dem on penalties.

Last season, Japan side Kawasaki Frontale knock Al-Nassr comot for di Asian Champions League Elite semi-finals, and dis season dem only qualify for di second-tier Asian Champions League Two.

Meanwhile, dia local rivals Al-Ahli win di Asian title last year wit players like Riyad Mahrez, Roberto Firmino and Ivan Toney for di squad.

So far, di only trophy wey di five-time Champions League winner don collect wit Al-Nassr na di Arab Club Champions Cup for 2023.

To make matters worse, Ronaldo don watch im former Real Madrid teammate Karim Benzema and Portugal teammate Ruben Neves lift league titles for Saudi Arabia while e still dey search for major silverware.

Al‑Nassr don reduce investment?

Al-Nassr na one of di "big four" clubs for Saudi Arabia wey include Al-Hilal, Al-Ahli and Al-Ittihad all of dem don spend plenti money since PIF take over for 2023.

Saudi clubs don spend about £700m for di 2023 summer transfer window, wit Neymar move go Al-Hilal for £77.6m as di big highlight.

Al-Hilal still sign Aleksandar Mitrovic and Neves from Fulham and Wolves, while Al-Nassr add Alex Telles (Manchester United), Aymeric Laporte (Manchester City), Sadio Mane (Bayern Munich) and Marcelo Brozovic (Inter Milan).

Al-Ahli take Mahrez (Manchester City), Edouard Mendy (Chelsea) and Firmino (Liverpool), while Al-Ittihad get N'Golo Kante (Chelsea), Fabinho (Liverpool) and Jota (Celtic) plus odas.

But even though Al-Ahli, Al-Ittihad and Al-Hilal don dey win big trophies, Al-Nassr never fit do am.

Wit Saudi clubs don reduce how dem dey spend for di recent transfer windows, Al-Nassr don also dey behind new promoted clubs like Neom SC and Al-Qadsiah for spending since last summer.

Al-Qadsiah don sign Mateo Retegui from Atalanta and 20-year-old Ghanaian winger Christopher Bonsu Baah from Genk, and na only Al-Hilal don spend pass dem since last summer.

Al-Nassr sign Joao Felix from Chelsea for £43.7m plus Kingsley Coman from Bayern Munich for di summer, but dem dey quiet for di January window, even though dem dey fight three-way battle for title wit Al-Hilal and Al-Ahli.

Dia rivals for title, Al-Hilal, sign former Arsenal defender Pablo Mari and Rennes' young French forward Mohamed Kader Meite, 18, dis window.

Saudi investment for sport dey go down?

Apart from di four Saudi clubs, di PIF portfolio still get Premier League club Newcastle and the LIV golf series, and dem still dey sponsor di ATP and WTA tennis tours.

From WWE, horse racing and football to golf, boxing and Formula 1, Saudi Arabia don turn hot spot for international sports for recent years, and dem go host di 2034 Fifa World Cup, 2027 AFC Asian Cup and the 2034 Asian Games.

But signs don dey show say di era of unlimited spending fit don end small.

Last month, dem postpone di 2029 Asian Winter Games wey dem bin plan to host for Neom, di new city wey still dey under construction indefinitely.

Even though dem no give official reason, Singapore paper Di Straits Times tok say construction for di ski resort don delay.

Di construction of di 105-mile-long Neom city, one major project for di kontri Vision 2030 plan to reduce dependence on oil, don also reportedly reduce in scale because of rising costs and delays.

You fit also see di reduction for dia investment inside di Saudi Pro League.

After dem spend more dan £1.1bn since 2023, new rules wey di ministry of sport announce for July 2025 don make clubs switch to a more careful and financially sustainable model.

No block Ronaldo road – analysis

As Manchester United fans know well, once Cristiano Ronaldo don set im mind for sometin, e no too send wetin go hapun afta.

Wen e comot from im second time for Old Trafford in 2022, e blast di club training facilities, tok say di structure na "marketing club", and e even tok about coach Erik ten Hag.

Di mata strong reach say e no fit continue to stay for di club.

Afta evritin calm down, Ronaldo still stand by wetin e tok and say e happy as everything take play out.

Now wey e don old small and wit even bigger salary involved, e go really interest person to see how Ronaldo go handle dis new situation, especially as e never tok anytin yet.