New signing Joao Felix began alongside five-time Ballon d’Or winner Cristiano Ronaldo and two-time African Footballer of the 12 months Sadio Mane as Al-Nassr confronted Ligue 1 facet 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, fashioned a part of an attacking trio with a minimum of 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 objectives 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 fun younger participant when he scored 20 objectives 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 change to Barcelona once more produced patchy kind, inflicting cash-strapped Barca to resolve in opposition to making the deal everlasting, as an alternative signing Dani Olmo.
Atleti bought Joao Felix to Chelsea in alternate for England midfielder Conor Gallagher, with the then-Portugal worldwide valued at £45m in a deal probably 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 objectives in 21 video games.
Cristiano Ronaldo: First season beneath 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,” the he mentioned of Ronaldo.
“The motivation will probably be nice. I’m going to attempt to make sure that Al-Nassr, which is without doubt one of the finest 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 the whole lot he’s performed for,” added Jorge Jesus.
“He hasn’t gained in Saudi Arabia but. I’ll see if I may also help him. We converse the identical language, the whole lot is simple.”
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 objectives 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 prime flight in every of his two seasons with Al-Nassr, who’ve colosssal monetary may by means of 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 in opposition to Germany and closing in opposition to Spain.
The five-time Champions League winner scored 35 objectives in 41 matches throughout all competitions for Al-Nassr in 2024/25.
Ronaldo weekly wage
On monetary web site Forbes’ all-time listing of the very best incomes athletes in a 12 months, solely boxer Floyd Mayweather eclipses Ronaldo, having pocketed an estimated $300m (£226m) in 2015 and $285m (£214.5m) in 2018.
Ronaldo was mentioned 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 extensively reported to be price £14.75m a month or £3.4m per week. His annual wage was mentioned to be £177m per 12 months, made up of £62m for his soccer wage, supplemented by business bonuses.
The five-time Ballon d’Or winner has a wide range of profitable sponsorship offers, together with his current endorsements together with Whoop, online game UFL and cryptocurrency alternate 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 regulate 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.
