Al Nassr will pursue right-back Aaron Wan-Bissaka, after Tottenham refused to sell Emerson Royal.
Initially, Al Nassr saw Royal as the number one target at the right-back position, but could not convince Tottenham with an offer of $25 million. According to the January 23 issue of the Telegraph, the Saudi Arabian team has switched to Aaron Wan-Bissaka, Cristiano Ronaldo’s teammate in his second spell with Man Utd.
Recently, Man Utd activated a one-year contract extension with Wan-Bissaka until June 2025. The English right-back still receives a salary of $115,000 per week as he signed when joining from Crystal Palace five years ago, but the “Red Devils” are ready to offer a new contract with higher compensation. Wan-Bissaka also has the option of returning to Crystal Palace, where Michael Olise moved in the opposite direction in a player exchange deal. In addition, Inter Milan also approached.
After recovering from his hamstring injury, Wan-Bissaka played 13 matches for Man Utd this season. The 26-year-old right-back started the last six matches, including the 2-2 draw with Tottenham on January 14.
Al Nassr is in need of additional forces to pursue the Saudi Pro League championship. Ronaldo’s team is ranked second with 46 points after 19 matches, seven points behind Al Hilal. Last season, Al Nassr also finished second, five points behind Al Ittihad.
If they buy Wan-Bissaka, Al Nassr may have to adjust the list of foreign players. They are only allowed to register a maximum of eight foreign players for each match in the Saudi Pro League, but there are nine players in this category, including Ronaldo, David Ospina, Sadio Mane, Aymeric Laporte, Otavio, Marcelo Brozovic, Seko Fofana, Alex Telles and Anderson Talisca.
Wan-Bissaka used to play for the England U21 team. However, after moving to Man Utd in 2019, the 26-year-old defender had difficulty raising his level to the team level, having to compete with Kyle Walker, Trent Alexander-Arnold, Kieran Trippier and Reece James. If he no longer has the opportunity to play internationally with England, Wan-Bissaka can play for the Democratic Republic of Congo based on his family origin.
Ronaldo first played for Man Utd from 2003 to 2009, before returning from September 2021 to November 2022. After being sidelined for some early matches of the 2022-2023 season, CR7 gave an interview publicly criticizing coach Erik Ten Hag and accusing “Man Utd of betraying me”. After that, Ronaldo liquidated the contract and moved to Al Nassr from January 2023.