Cristiano Ronaldo of Al-Nassr has been left out of the Saudi Pro League squad of the Season, with Odion Ighalo leading the squad in attack.
Ronaldo joined Al-Nassr in January and bagged 14 goals in 16 games for the club, who finished second in the league standings after a defeat to eventual champions Al-Ittihad in March saw them fall behind.
Despite only arriving midway through the season, Ronaldo finished fifth in the division’s scoring charts but that was not enough to earn him a spot in the Team of the Season.
In Ronaldo’s place up top is Ighalo, who netted 19 times across 27 games for Al-Nassr rivals Al-Hilal. The Nigerian has since left the club and is on the hunt for a new team.
Ronaldo’s quest to secure a spot in the Team of the Season next year has been complicated by the arrival of former Real Madrid teammate Karim Benzema, who has joined champions Al-Ittihad to compete with the division’s top scorer Abderrazak Hamdallah.
There could be plenty of familiar faces in next season’s lineup as Saudi officials continue to try to lure a number of the game’s biggest players over to the Middle East.
N’Golo Kante has agreed a contract with Al-Ittihad and is set to leave Chelsea as a free agent this summer, while 90min understands there is interest in luring Neymar away from Paris Saint-Germain.
PSG teammate Marco Verratti is also wanted by Saudi officials but both players are understood to be keen to remain in Europe at this point in their careers.
