Cameroonian striker Vincent Aboubakar has revealed that Cristiano Ronaldo wanted him to remain at Al Nassr despite claims that the Portuguese's arrival forced him out of the Saudi Arabia club.
Following weeks of speculation, Al-Nassr finalized a deal to sign Ronaldo on a free transfer last December after the forward's contract with Manchester United was terminated by mutual consent.
Ronaldo's arrival meant that Al Nassr had to offload one of their foreign players.
In early January, it emerged that Al-Nassr had axed Aboubakar to register Ronaldo.
However, Aboubakar, who has since put pen to paper on a two-and-a-half-year deal with Turkish giants Besiktas, has now revealed that he had already decided to leave the Riyadh-based club even before Ronaldo's arrival.
"With the arrival of Cristiano, I made it clear to the coach before his arrival that I already wanted to leave." "When Ronaldo arrived, a foreign player had to be released," Aboubakar said on the French television channel Canal+.
"Ronaldo asked me to stay, and the club wanted me to stay at least until the end of the season, but I wanted to leave." The club wanted me to stay and was ready to pay my salary until the end of the season.
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# Bruno Fernandes 'didn't CONNECT with Cristiano Ronaldo at Manchester United, claims Rio Ferdinand
Man United legend Rio Ferdinand has claimed Bruno Fernandes struggled to connect with Cristiano Ronaldo at the club because the playmaker prefers to be the focal point of the team.
Ronaldo's fairytale return to Old Trafford in the summer of 2021 stole headlines but the Portuguese forward began to dominate much of United's 21-22 season with his conduct on and off the pitch.
Fernandes' form began to suffer during that spell while Ronaldo finished as the club's top scorer on 24 goals - and Ferdinand feels the midfielder was unable to find his best game due to his team-mates 'looking past him'.
Speaking on his VibeWithFive YouTube show, Ferdinand insisted Fernandes was better for United when Ronaldo was not in the team - with the 28-year-old now in red-hot form under Erik ten Hag since his Portugal team-mate's contract was terminated last year.
'There are some players where their game just does not connect and I think Cristiano and Bruno... Bruno was just better when he was not there or not in the team,' he said.
'I think that might be because Bruno needs to be the guy that the game goes through, and I think the problem with Cristiano Ronaldo is because of his reputation and how good he is, people feel that they need to find him.
'I have played in teams where you have got a great No.9 and your first look is the No.9. When they are that good, you do look beyond everybody else and I had like [Paul] Scholesy and [Michael] Carrick in front of me.
'Sometimes I looked past them first. But Bruno wants the first look and says, "Give me the first look, as I want to be the guy who plays the ball to define the game".
'If he wasn't getting that first look, maybe he became a bit disinterested, I don't know, and it didn't suit him. You are seeing the best of him now because the game seems to be going through him more often than not at Man United.'
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