FIFA blocks Mohamed Salah joining Cristiano Ronaldo at Al-Nassr

Robin Bairner

20 Dec 2025 14:24 GMT
4 min read

Mohamed Salah, Liverpool, Cristiano Ronaldo — © IMAGO

If Mohamed Salah hoped that he might hook up with Cristiano Ronaldo in the Saudi Pro League this January, he will be left sorely disappointed, with FIFA blocking any potential transfer.

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Salah’s future at Liverpool hangs in the balance after the Egypt international star was left out of the starting XI in each of the last four Premier League matches the Reds have played.

He was also sanctioned for comments made after a 3-3 draw with Leeds United in which he claimed the club had broken promises to him and “thrown him under a bus”.

Current ETV

Mohamed Salah

F, M (R)

Liverpool

Mohamed Salah

F, M (R)

Liverpool

ETV Range

€41.6M - €50.9M

Although manager Arne Slot has sought to play down any rift between Salah and the club, all is not well.

FootballTransfers exclusively reported that the Reds will be willing to sanction a January deal if they are pressed into signing Antoine Semenyo from Bournemouth – something they would rather wait until the summer to do.

In the meantime, links between Salah and the Saudi Pro League remain.

© IMAGO - Cristiano Ronaldo's Al-Nassr will not be able to sign players in January

Al-Nassr handed FIFA transfer punishment

One club that can be ruled out of the running to sign the 33-year-old, for January at least, is Ronaldo’s Al-Nassr.

FIFA informed the Saudi club that it will be banned from making signings until further notice.

There has been no official confirmation from football’s governing body as to why they have taken this action against Al-Nassr, though it is allegedly for outstanding payments owed to Premier League clubs for transfers.

Manchester City are said to have filed a complaint against the Saudi side for €9 million in unpaid fees relating to the deal that took Aymeric Laporte to the club in 2023.

Similarly, Leicester are said to be owed money for the transfer of Ahmed Musa.

Fellow Saudi clubs Al-Shabab, Al-Riyadh and Damak are also facing sanctions.

Saudi move played down

Previously, the prospect of Salah moving to the Saudi Pro League had been played down by Ben Haddad, head of commercial strategy at Octagon, the sports marketing agency.

“To me, the options seem fairly limited,” he told The Athletic. “What his management would want to do is still to position him, rightly so, as one of the world’s elite footballers, someone who finished fourth in the Ballon d’Or a few months ago.

“Commercially and for his personal brand, you would presumably be looking at a selection of six or seven clubs within Europe. But the likelihood of that move, from a financial perspective, seems very low.

“I personally can’t see that Saudi would be an obvious move commercially right now. The upside would be how much money he earns from a football perspective, but it doesn’t quite seem the right time for that.”

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