Cristiano Ronaldo’s Strike at Al-Nassr: Real Story is Much Larger

While the headlines are focused on Cristiano Ronaldo’s recent strike at Al-Nassr, the real story is much larger

Wednesday February 11, 2026 1:15 AM, James Fry

[Al-Nassr FC Skipper Cristiano Ronaldo (Image: Saudi Pro League)]

While the headlines are focused on Cristiano Ronaldo’s recent strike at Al-Nassr, the real story is much larger. We are seeing a new, aggressive strategy from players where elite stars are downing tools not just for transfers, but to dictate club policy, coaching staff, and even ownership spending.

Why this matters?

The Return on Investment (ROI) of Ego: Despite earning $500K a day, Ronaldo’s refusal to play against title rivals signals a shift where the brand of the player now outweighs the authority of the club and its state-backed owners.
The New Strike Playbook: We’ve analyzed how this mirrors past revolts (Payet, Berbatov) but with a 2026 twist: players are now striking to influence other clubs' transfer windows.
Institutional Crisis: This is no longer just about unhappy players; it’s a fundamental challenge to the Saudi Pro League's stability and the global transfer market’s power structure.

Below you'll find a deep-dive analysis that compares these high-profile strikes, I hope you'll find it interesting. If its something you'd like to reference or use in your upcoming coverage, just let me know.

Why are so many soccer players refusing to play?

Players, from Isak to Ronaldo, have been downing tools in recent months to protest treatment or force through a transfer. Although it’s not entirely new, think Berbatov and van Hooijdonk, the form of protest seems to have become more common in recent years.

There’s been none more high profile than one of football’s greatest ever strikers, Cristaino Ronaldo, going on strike. He hasn’t featured in either of Al-Nassr’s previous games, both of which they’ve won, over frustration at the club’s lack of business during the transfer window.

Ronaldo Refuses to Play

When Cristano Ronaldo decided to join Saudi Pro League team Al-Nassr three years ago, it raised some eyebrows. The Portuguese forward has scored a record 961 career goals and is undeniably one of soccer’s brightest stars.

Since then, high-profile players have followed in his footsteps, including the likes of Neymar, Laporte, Henderson and Mane. All have received massive pay increases, with Ronaldo leading the way on $500,000 a day, according to our calculations at WSN.

Despite his adamant support for the league, which he described as ‘very competitive’ and in the ‘top five in the world’, it seems there’s trouble in paradise.

Discontent at Al-Nassr

In June 2025, Ronaldo signed a two year contract extension to keep him on at Al-Nassr. However, the five time Ballon d’Or winner refused to take to the pitch on Monday for Al-Nassr’s match against title rivals Al-Riyadh.

The Saudi Pro League is known for extravagant spending with $1.1 billion being splashed since 2023. However, due to new regulations, there’s been a focus on acquiring young talent, as opposed to always buying big.

It seems that Ronaldo was unhappy with the business Al-Nassr did in the recent winter transfer window where they only acquired Hayder Abdulkareem and Abdullah Al-Hamdan. He seemed to reach boiling point when rivals Al-Hilal secured Ballon d’Or winner Karim Benzema.

Struggling to Compete

Although Ronaldo has been the league’s top goal scorer two seasons in a row, Al-Nassr have struggled to compete for major trophies. During his time at the club, they’ve only won the Arab Cup and finished runners up and third in the title race.

New coach Jorge Jesus was meant to change that and help Al-Nassr to winning ways. Things got off to a promising start under Jesus when they won their first ten games of the season, but hit the rocks after the New Year.

Al-Nassr lost three games in ten days, turning their two point lead over Al-Hilal into a seven point deficit. As a result, going into the transfer window Al-Nassr were aiming to sign a forward, defensive midfielder and a full-back.

Al-Hilal Strengthens Star Team

Ronaldo didn’t believe the signings that Al-Nassr made would fill in the gaps that were causing the title to slip through their fingers. In the meantime, their closest rivals Al-Hilal were getting major deals over the line.

Al-Hilal had already spent $80 million in summer by buying Theo Hernandez and Darwin Nunez, but continued to spend during the winter. They added five further players to their squad including Pablo Mari and Ballon d’Or winner Karim Benzema.

The Benzema Move

Benzema caused a similar scene in order to get his move from Al-Ittihad to Al-Hilal across the line, refusing to play after the ‘disrespectful’ terms in his contract extension.

The move was made easier as both of the clubs, as well as Al-Nassr and the Premier League’s Newcastle, are controlled by the Saudi Arabia Public Investment Fund (PIF) – another point of discontent for Ronaldo.

At the time Benzema was the third highest paid player in the world taking home $85 million a year; he also had an impressive 30 goal contributions in 29 games under his belt. Al-Ittihad didn’t want to pay him a wage, instead offering to pay image rights, prompting the former French national to demand a move.

Does Ronaldo Have a Point?

The involvement of PIF in multiple clubs has long been a point of contention surrounding the Saudi Pro League. In a similar way to how Chelsea and Strasbourg are linked by BlueCo, the Saudi teams we mentioned earlier are all controlled by PIF. Despite sharing owners, some seem to have much more to spend than others.

While it might be a valid concern, it’s in no way new. Ronaldo would have been aware this was the case when he first signed for Al-Nassr and has never voiced any problems before. His actions, which have been nothing short of a tantrum, are an awful look for a league where he’s still a focal point. They’ve also distracted from what has been a genuinely gripping three-horse title race.

Similar Behavior at Manchester United

Manchester United fans will see the eerie similarities between Ronaldo’s actions at Al-Nassr and the end of his second spell at the club. Before his move in November 2022, he was extremely vocal in his discontent with just about everything at United. In the media he took aim at training, the ownership and manager Erik ten Hag.

In the explosive interview which led to him leaving the club, Ronaldo said he had ‘no respect’ for the manager and felt ‘betrayed by the club’. The month before his transfer he refused to come on as sub in the last minutes of a win against Spurs and was dropped from the squad that faced Chelsea as a result. The similarities between his behavior at Manchester United and Al–Nassr has concerned many fans.

Other Players Who Refused to Take the Pitch

In light of one of soccer’s biggest names refusing to play, we’ve reflected on others who have done the same before him.

Alexander Isak

The Swedish striker will surely spring to mind after he forced a move from Newcastle to Liverpool during the summer transfer window. He refused to train or play with the Newcastle team in the hopes of securing his move to the Reds.

He even took his discontent to Instagram where he voiced that ‘trust had been broken’ and alleged the club had promised him the move. Eventually, Liverpool signed him for $130 million with add-ons, but not before he’d irreparably damaged his reputation with many fans.

Dimitri Payet

West Ham had a similar issue on their hands in January 2017 when Frenchman Dimitri Payet downed tools. He was eyeing a move to Marseille and stopped attending training in the hopes he would achieve it. Not only did he ruffle the feathers of fans, but his teammates even kicked him out of their WhatsApp chat.

The Hammers’ manager at the time, Slaven Bilic reiterated that the club didn’t want to sell the midfielder, easily their best player at the time. Payet proved once again that once a player is on strike, regaining trust is almost impossible. In the end, he secured his move to Marseille for $25 million.

Dimitar Berbatov

Berbatov described planning for Manchester United as his dream, so when his current club Spurs stood in his way, the player went on strike. Manager at the time, Juande Ramos, made it clear that the Bulgarian was part of his plan for the club’s future. However, Berbatov didn’t agree and after a heated meeting, the player was left out of the squad against Sunderland in August 2008.

Ramos eventually relented after essentially calling the striker a distraction for the rest of the team. The Bulgarian joined United for $31 million on deadline day.

Why Are More Players Striking?

Now that more players like Isak have proved that downing tools is an effective way to force through a transfer, we’re likely to see it being used more often.

While Al-Nassr have proved they may not need Ronaldo, with wins over Al-Riyadh and Al-Ittihad, having the all-time leading goalscorer in your team is never a bad thing. If there’s one thing we know about one of soccer’s biggest talents (and egos) it’s that he’ll do what he wants. We’ll just have to wait to see exactly what that is.

[The writer, James Fry, is Public Relations Executive, Gentoo Media. Quad Central, Malta. He can be reached via james.fry@g2m.com and www.gentoomedia.com.]