Saudi Arabian side Al-Nassr have been placed under a FIFA ban preventing them from registering new players.
The club have led the Saudi Pro League charge in signing some of the world’s leading football talents, initiating the mass exodus by signing Cristiano Ronaldo on a mouth-watering £175million-a-year contract.
Since then, the nine-time national champions have been quick to add further European pedigree to their ranks, with Champions League and World Cup finalist Marcelo Brozovic arriving this summer.
Al-Nassr are still being linked with some well-known names – such as Hakim Ziyech from Chelsea – but may be set for a potential road block after FIFA’s move to block them from registering any new signings.
The global governing body have ruled that the Saudi giants failed to pay Leicester as much as £390,000 in add-ons – plus interest – for Ahmed Musa, after the Nigerian joined back in 2018.
However, it would seem that they were unable to do so, and as such have been punished with the registration ban promised.
Worse still, the club was warned in the original ruled that it would not be just one window, but three consecutive registration periods, halting the side in their tracks as they continue to try and build a star-studded side.
The club now has until the end of those three consecutive bans to pay the fee, or else they could be referred to FIFA’s Disciplinary Committee.
Club chiefs are however confident that the fee will be paid before it gets to that stage, and have intimated that the oversight came before their recent change in structure after the Public Investment Fund took over.
Al-Nassr intend to lift the ban by paying the fee to Leicester, who will be starting the new season from the Championship after their Premier League relegation, thereby permitting the Saudi side to target further recruits.
Ziyech in particular had looked close to joining Ronaldo, Brozovic and Co in Riyadh, before reports of a knee injury got in the way of his medical – an issue the player seemed to take umbrage with.
The Saudi Pro League has completed a number of high profile coups in the last few months, namely bringing Karim Benzema and N’Golo Kante to Al-Ittihad, with Al-Hilal potentially set to sign Sergej Milinkovic-Savic to line up with Kalidou Koulibaly and Ruben Neves.
