Cristiano Ronaldo’s Al Nassr Requests Increase in First Team Roster Size Ahead of Summer Transfer Window- Reports

The soccer bonanza from the Middle East is set to get bigger. Shaking Europe with its money-rich approach during the last summer transfer market, it appears that the Saudi Pro League will be expected to see a few more changes. The arrival of Cristiano Ronaldo led to a revolution by acquiring some of the best players for Al Nassr and other clubs. However, looks like the club in yellow is not satisfied with the number of players as they are aiming to increase its roster size.

Latest talks hint that Al Nassr along with a rival club is requesting the board to increase the number of players for the first-team squads. According to senior Saudi journalist, Abdulaziz Al Osaimi on X, Al Nassr and Al Hilal are on one page that the first team roster should be increased from 25 players to 30 from the upcoming window after the season ends. Even though it’s a rare occurrence where the two clubs have agreed on a point, it looks like they are planning for multiple signings this season.

Meanwhile, spending was already taken to the next level last season by the SPL clubs with approximately $1 billion only next to their English Premier League counterparts. However, the franchisees were limited to only 25 players and eight foreigners were allowed per club. But it was the two giants from Riyadh that dominated the period acquiring other players like Cristiano Ronaldo, Neymar, Otavio, Malcom, Aleksandar Mitrovic, Ruben Neves, and a few other stars.

Nevertheless, quite a few players will be under target for multiple clubs next season. Kevin De Bruyne from Manchester City and Mohamed Salah from Liverpool will be the players in focus with lucrative proposals. The Liverpool star reportedly received a $270m offer from Al Ittihad last year. But it would be interesting to see how the Knights will approach the market after falling short of a few titles this season.

Cristiano Ronaldo and Al Nassr hope to fill the boxes this summer

It appears that the signing of Cristiano Ronaldo and other stars wasn’t sufficient for Luis Castro’s club. It still fell short of Al Hilal by a considerable margin in the league title race and also lost the Saudi Super Cup to them. Nevertheless, the team will assess where it went wrong and try to bring in suitable players for next season. The focus could be on the defense as they are expected to lose Aymeric Laporte after his interest in returning to Europe. Raphael Varane could be a major mark since he is positioned to leave Manchester United.

Moreover, the club may also aim for United’s Casemiro, and reports suggest that their captain recommended to consider Bruno Fernandes next time. Overall, looks like the Gulf is persevering with its transformation process. But more importantly, whether the other teams would agree on the proposal and be able to go on such a spending spree as the two giants have to be seen.