New signing Joao Felix began alongside five-time Ballon d’Or winner Cristiano Ronaldo and two-time African Footballer of the Yr Sadio Mane as Al-Nassr confronted Ligue 1 aspect Toulouse in a pre-season pleasant in Austria on Wednesday.
Portuguese Joao Felix, who joined the Saudi heavweights from Chelsea for £43.7 million a day earlier, shaped a part of an attacking trio with not less than one title in six completely different nations.
Ronaldo featured for the primary time since signing a contract extension to finish uncertainty over the talisman’s future on the finish of the 2024/25 season.
Al-Nassr’s targets got here from Mane, Abdulrahman Ghareeb, Mohamed Simakan, Abdulmajeed Al-Sulaiheem and an personal purpose in a 5-2 win over Austrian membership SK St Johann on Saturday, when Ronaldo was rested after beginning pre-season coaching.
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Al Nassr vs Toulouse: Joao Felix in beginning lineup
Joao Felix was considered the world’s most enjoyable younger participant when he scored 20 targets in 43 video games in his debut season for Benfica, persuading Atletico Madrid supervisor Diego Simeone to pay £113million – the third-highest payment ever – for him.
Alongside an uneasy relationship with infamous taskmaster Simeone, the feeling struggled for kind and health earlier than being loaned to Chelsea in January 2023.
A subsequent mortgage swap to Barcelona once more produced patchy kind, inflicting cash-strapped Barca to resolve towards making the deal everlasting, as an alternative signing Dani Olmo.
Atleti bought Joao Felix to Chelsea in trade for England midfielder Conor Gallagher, with the then-Portugal worldwide valued at £45m in a deal doubtless linked to the Premier League’s Profitability and Sustainability Guidelines.
Six months right into a seven-year deal at Stamford Bridge, Joao Felix started a mortgage spell at AC Milan that yielded a return of three targets in 21 video games.
Cristiano Ronaldo: First season underneath Jorge Jesus
Jorge Jesus took cost of Al-Nassr earlier this month on a one-year contract. “With out his invitation, I definitely wouldn’t be there,” he stated of Ronaldo.
“The motivation can be nice. I’m going to strive to make sure that Al-Nassr, which is among the greatest golf equipment in Saudi Arabia, can win titles.
The 70-year-old Portuguese gained the Saudi Professional League and King Cup with Al-Hilal in 2023/24.
“Cristiano Ronaldo is a participant who has all the time gained every part he’s performed for,” added Jorge Jesus.
“He hasn’t gained in Saudi Arabia but. I’ll see if I will help him. We converse the identical language, every part is straightforward.”
Sadio Mane stats
Liverpool and Senegal icon Mane joined Al-Nassr from Bayern Munich in August 2023 on a reported tax-free wage of greater than £34m.
Now 33, Mane shared the Premier League Golden Boot and gained the Champions League in 2018/19, then gained the 2019/20 Premier League with the Reds.
He contributed 19 targets and 11 assists in 46 appearances in all competitions in his first marketing campaign with Al-Nassr, then scored 18 and arrange 14 in 47 matches final season.
Cristiano Ronaldo contract
Regardless of top-scoring within the high flight in every of his two seasons with Al-Nassr, who’ve colosssal monetary would possibly by the nation’s Public Funding Fund, Ronaldo is but to win the Saudi title.
Shortly after Al-Nassr completed third final season – 13 factors behind champions Al-Ittihad – Ronaldo appeared to strongly trace on social media that he had performed his closing recreation for the membership.
He agreed a brand new contract precisely a month later, having scored in Portugal’s triumphant Nations League semi-final towards Germany and closing towards Spain.
The five-time Champions League winner scored 35 targets in 41 matches throughout all competitions for Al-Nassr in 2024/25.
Ronaldo weekly wage
On monetary web site Forbes’ all-time checklist of the best incomes athletes in a yr, solely boxer Floyd Mayweather eclipses Ronaldo, having pocketed an estimated $300m (£226m) in 2015 and $285m (£214.5m) in 2018.
Ronaldo was stated to have surpassed $1 billion (£771m) in profession earnings two years earlier than turning into essentially the most high-profile footballer to maneuver to Saudi Arabia.
Ronaldo’s first Al-Nassr deal was broadly reported to be value £14.75m a month or £3.4m per week. His annual wage was stated to be £177m per yr, made up of £62m for his soccer wage, supplemented by business bonuses.
The five-time Ballon d’Or winner has quite a lot of profitable sponsorship offers, together with his latest endorsements together with Whoop, online game UFL and cryptocurrency trade Binance.
When does Ronaldo’s 2025/26 season begin with Al Nassr?
The 2025/26 Saudi Professional League season will begin in late August, with the fixtures but to be confirmed in late July. You possibly can control any bulletins here.
Al-Ittihad, who’re managed by legendary defender Laurent Blanc, are the reigning champions, having completed eight factors above Al-Hilal and 13 forward of Al-Nassr final season.
