Cristiano Ronaldo and N'Golo Kante go AWOL as Saudi project at risk of falling apart

Tom Weber

• 3 Feb 2026 12:35 CST
• 4 min read

News

The Saudi Pro League is in crisis mode amid upheaval at Al-Nassr and Al-Ittihad, with Cristiano Ronaldo and N'Golo Kante going on strike following Karim Benzema's controversial move to Al-Hilal.

Unlike in previous years, the Saudi Pro League transfer window shut concurrently with the major European ones on Monday. Three big storylines dominated the headlines on Deadline Day.

For one, it emerged that Karim Benzema was on his way to record Asian champions Al-Hilal. The Riyadh giants were able to exploit his unhappiness at Al-Ittihad. The deal was officially confirmed shortly before the deadline.

The reigning Pro League champions had upset the French superstar with their "disrespectful" contract offer. Benzema's terms would have expired in the summer, but Al-Ittihad were keen to retain him. However, they bizarrely only offered him 100 per cent of his image rights but no salary.

The former Ballon d'Or winner was left fuming and informed the club that he was no longer willing to play for them. Central dealmakers managed to thrash out a 1.5-year agreement with Al-Hilal to keep him in the Pro League, but the ramifications have been massive.

Ronaldo goes on strike, Kante follows suit

The Pro League's biggest star, Cristiano Ronaldo, took exception to the move of his former Real Madrid teammate because, he argues, it proves that Al-Hilal receive preferential treatment from the Public Investment Fund (PIF), which also owns his Al-Nassr as well as Al-Ahli and Al-Ittihad.

Ronaldo, who has yet to win a major trophy with Al-Nassr, is upset that his side did not properly strengthen the squad in January as they chase league leaders Al-Hilal. He blames the PIF, but this anger appears to be misdirected.

Saudi clubs are centrally allocated a budget before every season, and any deals that exceed this budget will have to be privately funded. When Mohamed Salah was linked with a Saudi move in December, it was quickly made clear that no additional central funding would be provided to make the deal happen.

Indeed, Al-Hilal did not receive special dispensation or backing from the PIF to complete the signing of Benzema. The deal was funded by billionaire investor Prince Alwaleed bin Talal. Al-Nassr could just as well have signed Benzema.

Due to his unhappiness, Ronaldo declared himself unavailable for Al-Nassr's 1-0 win over Al-Riyadh on Monday, but senior Saudi figures are baffled by the Portuguese's anger, according to Sky Sports.

Ronaldo's people are involved at every level of Al-Nassr. They know exactly what is happening at the club and could have taken matters into their own hands. This has only added to the sense of bemusement from central dealmakers.

Al-Nassr spent over €100 million on summer recruits, so any major January business needed to be privately funded. Unlike Al-Hilal, who spent almost €70m last month in addition to over €100m in the summer, Al-Nassr don't appear to have a billionaire supporter.

Ironically, Al-Nassr's next game is against Al-Ittihad, and Pro League chiefs are trying to convince Ronaldo to end his strike. His future, however, is uncertain. Intriguingly, it is claimed that he has a €50 million release clause this summer.

Ronaldo, though, is not the Pro League's only problem child. Many of the league's big-name acquisitions of recent years have already returned to Europe, and Al-Ittihad star N'Golo Kante is now also pushing to leave.

Fenerbahce were in talks to sign him for almost the entire duration of January, but his move to Istanbul, which appeared to be all but done, collapsed on Monday.

It was proposed that Youssef En-Nesyri would join Al-Ittihad in return, but the Saudi club messed up the necessary paperwork, which meant that their signing of the Morocco international did not go through before the deadline. FIFA rejected their appeal to belatedly complete the deal.

Kante is furious. According to Ben Jacobs, he refused to take part in training on Tuesday, and he continues to push for a move to Fenerbahce. Unlike Saudi sides, Turkish clubs can still do business until Friday.

It remains to be seen if Al-Ittihad will give in, but even if they force Kante to stay, the January transfer window will have been hugely damaging to Saudi football.

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