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Cristiano Ronaldo's Al-Nassr have set their sights on Eintracht Frankfurt defender Arthur Theate, according to journalist Sacha Tavolieri. The Belgian defender joined the Bundesliga club on loan from Rennes last summer, before the move was made permanent in January.
Theate has been very impressive this season, registering 42 appearances across competitions, all of which were starts. The 25-year-old has long been on the radar of Saudi clubs, who apparently looked at him last summer as well.
Interestingly, Atletico Madrid are also planning to add more steel to their backline and have turned to Theate. However, the LaLiga will face competition from Al-Nassr in the race for the player this summer.
The Saudi Pro League club are looking to improve their backline after an underwhelming 2024/25 campaign. Despite Cristiano Ronaldo's goalscoring heroics, his team ended the season without silverware.
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Al-Nassr are looking for a new left-footed center back this summer and have identified Theate as an option. Aymeric Laporte is apparently eyeing a move back to Europe this year and the Belgian could be his replacement. However, Theate is under contract with Eintracht Frankfurt until 2029, and the club are reluctant to let him go.
When does Cristiano Ronaldo's contract with Al-Nassr expire?
Cristiano Ronaldo's contract with Al-Nassr expires at the end of this month. The Portuguese superstar was briefly linked with a temporary move to rivals Al-Hilal ahead of the FIFA Club World Cup, but the transfer didn't materialize.
Speaking to The BBC, Al-Hilal chief executive Esteve Calzada stated that a move for the 40-year-old would have been counter-intuitive.
"We normally don't comment on players' situations, particularly because our name is always put out there, when a player or an agent wants to negotiate a better deal with his club, or is trying to move out. It's been a very weird transfer window, it's a very short period of time," said Calzada.
He continued:
"You don't want to take a decision thinking about this tournament that then you have to carry on with for the next two or three years. As much as I respect Ronaldo as a huge player, as we all recognise he is, it's certainly completely counter-intuitive that you bring the biggest player of your biggest opponent to play with you. Even more when it's only for three to four weeks."
Cristiano Ronaldo has scored 93 goals from 105 games for Al-Nassr to date.
