Despite their acrimonious separation, United may be willing to do Cristiano Ronaldo one final favor after the Red Devils were linked with a bid for Vincent Aboubakar.
Ronaldo, 37, joined Saudi Arabian club Al-Nassr last week in a mega-money contract which will see him earn an approximate £175million a year. However, since he has been in the Middle East, he has encountered a variety of obstacles to overcome.
On Thursday, it became clear that the Saudis will have trouble deploying Ronaldo nonetheless, as the team is unable to register the superstar player because they have reached their limit on the number of international players they are allowed to field.
The 37-year-old player is Al-ninth Nassr’s import from outside. Club insiders informed AFP that negotiations are currently underway to sell an existing squad member in order to reach the quota of eight players that is imposed by the Saudi Pro League.
‘Al Nassr has not registered him yet because there is no space for a foreign player,’ an unnamed Al Nassr official told AFP.
‘A foreign player must depart to register Ronaldo, either by selling or by ending the contract with mutual consent.’
However, United has suddenly become a friend who is eager to assist Al-Nassr and Ronaldo. This was not expected. The Red Devils are anxious to bring in a new striker this month to replace the 37-year-old, however budgetary constraints mean they are expected to dig into the loan market.
And Saudi site OKAZ believes that Al-Nassr are looking to transfer Cameroon captain Aboubakar to create place for Ronaldo. They report Manchester United and Turkish outlet Fenerbahce are looking to land the former Porto striker.
Since signing Ronaldo, Al-Nassr has had to contend with a number of challenges, one of which being the difficulty of filling its foreign player quota.
Ronaldo’s anticipated debut had already been placed into doubt because of a two-game FA ban, issued to him while he was a Manchester United player and which he has yet to serve.
The star was given the ban in November for slapping a phone out of the palm of an Everton fan during a game last season.
Al-Nassr were considering playing the Portuguese superstar in defiance of the suspension, eager to pay any penalties levied to them by world governing body FIFA.
But any hope of Ronaldo playing on Thursday night was discarded as their was called off owing to electrical concerns.
Former Arsenal goalkeeper David Ospina and ex-Brazil international Luiz Gustavo are among Al-army Nassr’s of foreign players.
The group also includes former Argentina international Pity Martinez, Ivory Coast’s Ghislain Konan, Spain’s Alvaro Gonzalez, Brazilian midfielder Talisca and Uzbekistan’s Jaloliddin Masharipov.
The Saudi Pro League club has reportedly spent upwards of £400 million to recruit Ronaldo to a deal that will keep him playing for them for the next two and a half years. Ronaldo, who is 37 years old, has reportedly agreed to a salary of £175 million each year.