Ronaldo returned to practice with Al Nassr on July 11, after a summer break with his family. He will start working with Luis Castro – the coach appointed by Al Nassr nearly a week before. According to Saudi media, it was the 38-year-old striker who recommended Castro to the team, replacing coach Rudi Garcia who was fired last season.

When asked about Ronaldo, Castro said: “Leading the best player in the world is always great, and Ronaldo will go down in football history. He is the image of Al Nassr, admired by his teammates. follow. I am honored to work with Ronaldo”.

Castro is 62 years old, with work experience in Portugal, Ukraine, Brazil and Qatar. The biggest team he ever worked with was Porto in 2014, but only for the last two months of the season. The Portuguese coach has never worked with any club related to Ronaldo.

Among the top four Saudi League teams, Al Nassr is the only club that has just added a European player, midfielder Marcelo Brozovic from Inter for a transfer fee of nearly 20 million USD. Defending champions Al Ittihad recruited N’Golo Kante, Karim Benzema and midfielder Jota. Al Hilal also added Kalidou Koulibaly, Ruben Neves for a total of more than $80 million. Al Ahli also signed goalkeeper Edouard Mendy and striker Roberto Firmino. These four teams are still attracting more stars from Europe with dream incentives.

Compared to the coach of the top teams in the Saudi League, Castro is also not as impressive. Other famous colleagues include Steven Gerrard (Al-Ettifaq), Slaven Bilic (Al Fateh), Nuno Espirito Santo (Al Ittihad) or Jorge Jesus (Al Hilal).

Al Nassr has just played the first friendly match of the 2023-2024 season, beating Alverca 2-0 on the evening of July 10 in Portugal. They will play three more matches in Ronaldo’s hometown, before going to Japan to play against strong opponents like PSG and Inter.