Saudi Pro League side Al-Nassr is making headlines yet again this season but for all the wrong reasons.
The club that acquired Cristiano Ronaldo last season has now been hit with a ban from FIFA which prevents the nine-time Saudi Pro League champions from registering any new players.
🚨 FIFA have BANNED Al-Nassr from registering new players for failing to pay add-ons owed to Leicester City as part of the Ahmed Musa deal.(Source: @JacobsBen) pic.twitter.com/oyDyzDYPO4
— Transfer News Live (@DeadlineDayLive) July 12, 2023
The Saudi side’s 173 million pound deal which brought the five-time Ballon D’or winner to their side sparked what seems to have been a whole new influx of influential European stars moving to Saudi Arabia this summer transfer window.
The Saudi Pro League has made way for European superstars such as Karim Benzema, N’golo Kante and Roberto Firmino to name a few.
Al-Nassr themselves have added to their arsenal of players this season as they roped in the likes of Marcelo Brozovic from Inter.
But, the side is now facing a ban from signing any more players due to their failure to pay the recently-relegated Premier League side Leicester City the add-ons from a deal that brought striker Ahmed Musa to the Saudi team in 2018.
Musa moved to the Saudi Arabian Pro League side in a deal worth 16.50 million euros five years ago after he impressed at the World Cup in Russia.
The FIFA ruling, which prohibits transfers both domestic and international, has been imposed for three transfer windows and is in relation to the club failing to pay owed add-ons, which amount to a reported 390,000 pounds, to Leicester City as part of their deal for the Nigerian striker.
Al-Nassr will need to make the payment in order to lift and ban and get back in the market as all Saudi clubs seem to embark on a trolley dash this summer.
Al-Nassr are still being linked with some well-known names - such as Hakim Ziyech from Chelsea - but may be set for a potential roadblock after FIFA’s move to block them from registering any new signings.
