Cristiano Ronaldo's Future at Al-Nassr in Question After AFC Champions League Loss
Cristiano Ronaldo’s future at Al-Nassr has been dragged under the spotlight after the club’s bruising 4-0 collapse against Al-Ain in the opening round of the AFC Champions League Elite.
The defeat was bad. The reaction has been worse.
Al-Nassr were outplayed and outthought by the UAE side, and when the inquest began, the captain found himself squarely in the firing line. Sections of the club’s own supporters turned on Ronaldo, while pundits and media voices questioned his influence on the biggest stage, accusing him of failing to rise to the occasion against Al-Ain.
Now, a familiar name around the club has poured more fuel on the fire.
“A spent card”
Former Al-Nassr spokesman Saud Al-Sarami went public with a scathing assessment of Ronaldo’s situation, openly casting doubt on whether the Portuguese star should even see out the season in Riyadh.
Speaking on the “Al-Arabiya FM” programme, Al-Sarami declared that Ronaldo’s role at the club would remain purely on the pitch and suggested that his time there might be running out.
“Ronaldo will not play any non-technical role with Al-Nassr, and I do not rule out that he may leave the club in the winter Mercato, as happened with Karim Benzema previously, and this will happen entirely of his own accord,” he said.
Then he sharpened his stance.
“The former club spokesman went further: “Ronaldo has become a spent card and is unable to provide anything with Al-Nassr, and he must leave.”
For Al-Sarami, the heavy loss to Al-Ain did more than dent pride. It exposed structural flaws in the squad that, in his view, can no longer be masked by star power.
Rebuild over reputation
Al-Sarami argued that Al-Nassr need to reset their priorities in the coming period, using the Al-Ain defeat as a warning sign rather than a one-off embarrassment. In his eyes, moving on from Ronaldo would not just be a symbolic change, but a practical one.
Losing the highest-profile name at the club, he suggested, could free Al-Nassr to rebuild key areas of the team. Midfield, above all, was highlighted as the department crying out for reinforcement, with recent performances exposing gaps that opponents have started to exploit.
The message was clear: sentiment cannot stand in the way of squad evolution.
Club silent, questions loud
All of this lands at a moment of real turbulence for Al-Nassr. The 4-0 defeat to Al-Ain has triggered a wave of criticism, tactical scrutiny, and soul-searching inside and outside the club.
Yet for all the noise around Ronaldo, Al-Sarami’s prediction of a January exit remains exactly that — his own expectation. Al-Nassr’s management has not issued any official word on the captain’s future, nor signalled that a winter departure is on the table.
For now, Ronaldo remains the face of the project. The question is how long the club, and the fans, will keep believing that he is still the man to carry it.
