Former Manchester United loanee Odion Ighalo has been named in the Saudi Pro-League team of the season ahead of Cristiano Ronaldo, who misses out entirely.
The superstar made the switch to Al-Nassr in January upon his acrimonious exit from United in November. Ronaldo netted 14 times in 16 matches, making him the division’s fifth-highest scorer.
But the 38-year-old does not feature in the team of the year with Igahlo included. The striker netted 19 times in 27 outings for Al-Hilal, who finished eight points behind second-place Al-Nassr.
Ighalo scored five times in 23 matches for United during his year-long loan spell from Chinese side Shanghai Shenhua between January 2020 and January 2021.
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Ex-Bayern Munich star Luiz Gustavo is in the XI with Ahmed Hegazi, once of West Brom, also making the cut.
Ronaldo shut down any speculation that he might be leaving Saudi Arabia earlier this month, saying: "I am happy here, I want to continue here, I will continue here.
"And in my opinion if they continue to do the work that they want to do here, for the next five years, I think the Saudi league can be a top five league in the world.
"I will be part of your world, your culture, I will be here, I hope I make the people enjoy through my games, my performance, and to win things, but again, thank you for welcoming me, and I will try to give my best during the time that I will be here.”
He has been joined in Saudi Arabia by former Real Madrid teammate Karim Benzema, who signed for champions Al-Ittihad following his Bernabeu exit, while Chelsea star N’Golo Kante is also rumoured to be nearing a switch.
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