Cristiano Ronaldo tried to convince Vincent Aboubakar to stay at Al-Nassr in the summer after his arrival from Manchester United complicated things.
Ronaldo signed for the Saudi Arabian side at the start of 2023 after agreeing to a £172million-a-year contract. His blockbuster arrival in Riyadh had implications for Al-Nassr’s other foreign players, with every club only allowed eight on their books.
Al-Nassr had to sell one of their foreign players to make room for the 38-year-old superstar and Aboubakar appeared the obvious choice. The Cameroon international only had six months left on his contract with the club and plays in the same position as Ronaldo.
However, Aboubakar says that Ronaldo actually urged him to stay put before he eventually agreed to re-join Turkish side Besiktas for a third time on January 21.
Recalling his conversation, he told Talents d'Afrique on Canal+: “We talked a bit and his opinion was that he wanted me to stay. I told him no, that I will leave for family reasons.
“He asked me where my family was, I told him they are in France and so I prefer to go to Turkey [as] it's closer. And he told me it's better, if your family is really far away, it's more complicated. I was firm, I wanted to leave.”
Aboubakar joined Al-Nassr in July 2021 from Besiktas and went on to contribute 13 goals and six assists in 39 appearances. His profile skyrocketed after he scored a stunning goal for Cameroon against Brazil at the World Cup before being sent off for taking his shirt off in celebration.
The 31-year-old striker admitted that Ronaldo’s arrival in Riyadh made things difficult for him and essentially made up his mind for him. Aboubakar ended up leaving Al-Nassr with a little bit of bad blood as a result.
“I left a little angry because it was not easy. When Cristiano arrived, coach Rudi Garcia called me into his office,” he explained.
“He told me that normally an international player has to leave, it's either me or Jaloliddin Masharipov [from Uzbekistan], either me or Pity. I told him that I already wanted to leave before and, honestly, as Cristiano was coming, my playing time would be reduced and it was better for me to leave.
“I had offers, including one from Besiktas. They wanted me to stay until the end of the season. I said 'no honestly president I prefer to leave'. It was a bit complicated but finally they let me go.”
Ronaldo made a slow start to life at Al-Nassr, making a goalless debut in a narrow win over Ettifaq before failing to score as Al-Nassr were dumped out of the Saudi Super Cup by Al-Ittihad. He has since found his shooting boots, scoring four times in a 4-0 win over Al-Wehda on February 9. The former United striker now has five goals in four games.
