Al Nassr Duo Cristiano Ronaldo & Sadio Mane Made $27,000,000 Superstar Ditch Boyhood Team Despite Lucrative Contract, Says His Ex-Club Prez

The Saudi Pro League turned its fortunes after the arrival of Cristiano Ronaldo to the league in January. The clubs have splurged an enormous amount of money to attract leading talent from Europe, which includes Neymar Jr., Karim Benzema, and N’Golo Kante, among others. Aymeric Laporte is the latest name to join the exodus to the Gulf, as the Manchester City defender agreed to join Al Nassr in a reported $27 million deal.

Laporte’s boyhood club’s president, however, claimed that the defender would have returned to his roots if the Saudi club hadn’t intervened.

‘Only Saudi Arabia stopped Aymeric Laporte’s return,’ claimed Athletic Club president

Aymeric Laporte had been linked with the move away from Manchester City for a while. He was linked to several clubs after losing his prominence under Pep Guardiola. The 29-year-old center-back ultimately finalized a move to Saudi Arabian side Al Nassr, where he’ll play alongside Cristiano Ronaldo and Sadio Mane.

Laporte’s former club, Athletic Club, also made an effort to re-sign him and bring him back to San Mames after club president, John Uriarte publicly confirmed that the Basque club pursued the former City defender. However, just like it happened with so many players this summer, Saudi Pro League side Al Nassr swooped in with bags of money to tempt the Spanish defender to the Middle East.

Uriarte claimed that Laporte’s return fell apart when Al Nassr knocked on his doorstep with a good amount of money. In a tweet shared by @9NFCBALL on Monday, John Uriarte claimed that “Laporte would have been our player if Al Nassr had not made a huge offer for him, as he preferred to play alongside Ronaldo and Mane.”

Aymeric Laporte could have been a star signing returning to Bilbao. The club president added, “The signing was very close to happening, but it fell apart after the emergence of Al Nassr. We were there, but we were unlucky when Al Nassr showed up. We couldn’t get into a bidding war with an Arab team, we knew we were going to lose. If Al-Nassr doesn’t show up, the player would be with us.”

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Laporte has signed a three-year deal with Al Nassr in Riyadh and will be bolstering the defending ranks of the Saudi giants. With Cristiano Ronaldo and Sadio Mane leading the line for Al Nassr, Laporte is a great addition to the squad aiming to challenge for titles.

Al Nassr and Cristiano Ronaldo looking strong to contend for the silverware

The 29-year-old Spanish defender became Al Nassr’s sixth major signing this summer after Sadio Mane, Marcelo Brozovic, Alex Telles, Seko Fofana, and Otavio. All signings came after the club signed Cristiano Ronaldo in January, last season.

Laporte’s decision to join Al Nassr is a major coup for the club, and it shows their ambition to compete at the highest level. With Ronaldo and Mane already linking up together to break down defenses in the Saudi Pro League, Laporte adds a lot of quality to the backline.

It will be interesting to see how well the Spanish center-back gels up with the squad at Al Nassr and delivers for his new colors. Al Nassr currently sits in sixth position in the Saudi Pro League table and will be looking forward to climbing further.

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Al Nassr will be in action again when they face Al Raed away from home in the Saudi Pro League on September 16, Saturday.