Cristiano Ronaldo snubbed by Saudi chiefs as N’Golo Kante hopes wrecked

Cristiano Ronaldo has been snubbed by Saudi Arabia’s chief decision-makers with N’Golo Kante poised to join Al-Ittihad. Earlier this week, it was announced Saudi’s Public Investment Fund were taking control of four major clubs in a bid to accelerate the growth of the country’s league.

The PIF bought Ronaldo’s club Al Nassr as well as newly-crowned champions Al-Ittihad, Al-Ahli and Al-Hilal. Crown prince Mohammed bin Salman acquired 75 per cent ownership of all four clubs and the Kingdom is now expected to invest heavily in all of the teams, particularly when it comes to signing new players.

Al-Ittihad will play in the Club World Cup later this year which is being hosted in Saudi Arabia in December. And on Tuesday they unveiled the big-money signing of Karim Benzema who has left Real Madrid to earn as much as £170million a year at his new club. That is a similar wage to Ronaldo’s at Al Nassr.

Kante is soon set to follow Benzema to the Saudi Pro League. And CBS Sports report that free agent Kante will go to Al-Ittihad despite Ronaldo’s Al Nassr having also ‘really wanted’ to sign the Chelsea midfielder. However, the report claims the powerbrokers ultimately decided he will be better off in Jeddah than being Ronaldo’s team-mate.

That is partly due to the fact Al-Ittihad will represent the nation in the Club World Cup. They could end up facing Premier League champions Manchester City in the competition. But Kante strengthening the existing champions, where he will be paid around £86m per season on a two-year contract, may not go down well with Ronaldo.

The Portuguese will have hoped that he would get some assistance in Riyadh to win the title next season after scoring 14 goals in his first 16 Pro League appearances. Despite Al Nassr showing significant interest in Kante, Ronaldo will not be joined by the Frenchman.

The good news for the five-time Ballon d’Or winner – who is trying to lift an eighth league title in a fourth different country – is that he may still get some superstar help for next year.

Wilfried Zaha has been one player linked with a move to Al-Awwal Park but he prefers to remain in Europe per Fabrizio Romano. Other targets for the big Saudi clubs include Lionel Messi, Sergio Ramos, Angel Di Maria, Luka Modric, Hugo Lloris, Roberto Firmino, Jordi Alba and Sergio Busquets.

Kante’s exit actually helps out new Chelsea manager Mauricio Pochettino. The Frenchman has been regularly afflicted by injury in the past two seasons but remains one of the highest earners at Stamford Bridge on £290,000 a week.

While he remains a high-quality performer when fully fit, Chelsea’s need to trim their wage bill and replenish their midfield means Kante’s exit is ultimately one that makes sense. The Blues will look to replace Kante’s energy by signing Moises Caicedo from Brighton on lesser wages.