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Saudi player fired for refusing to give up No. 7 jersey for Cristiano Ronaldo? Al Nassr clarifies
The Portuguese striker officially joined the squad list after the club terminated one player's contract to stay within the maximum eight foreign nationals stipulated by the Saudi league
Photo Credit: AFP, Instagram
Since Cristiano Ronaldo joined Saudi Arabia's Al Nassr club, rumour mills had been on overdrive. And one speculation that made the rounds on social media was that a player had to be fired because he refused to give up his No. 7 jersey for the football star.
Ronaldo has always worn No. 7 at his previous clubs Manchester United, Real Madrid and Juventus — as well as with the Portugal team. In fact, many would even refer to him as CR7. So, when he finalised his Al Nassr move, it was expected that he will wear the same number, but this time in yellow.
Social media posts that circulated recently claimed that Al Nassr's Uzbek player Jaloliddin Masharipov had his contract terminated because he didn't want to lose his No. 7 jersey.
In a tweet, a Netizen that goes by the handle @StokkeyG2 said:
This claim however, is not true, the football club has clarified. Masharipov had actually switched to No. 77 before Ronaldo joined Al Nassr.
When news agency AFP reached out to the club for fact-checking, a representative rubbished the claim and confirmed that Masharipov agreed to change his jersey number before Ronaldo's signing was announced.
In a number of Instagram posts, the Uzbek player even shared photos of him and CR7, highlighting their jersey numbers:
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Cleared for January 22 debut
Ronaldo faced a wait to make his Al Nassr debut because the Saudi club has exceeded their quota for foreign players, club sources earlier told AFP.
In the latest update, however, another source said the start could finally make his debut on January 22 after he was successfully registered by his new team.
The striker joined the squad list after Al Nassr terminated Manchester United-linked striker Vincent Aboubakar to stay within the maximum eight foreign nationals stipulated by the Saudi league.
(With inputs from AFP)
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