From Manchester to Al-Nassr: has Ronaldo proved Ten Hag right four years on?

On 6 July, Portugal bowed out of the 2026 World Cup, held in the United States, Canada and Mexico, in the round of 16, following a 1-0 defeat to Spain.

Everyone expected Cristiano Ronaldo to return to Al-Nassr training after the statutory 21-day grace period, which ran until the 27th of last month. It never happened. He did not even join the overseas camp in Portugal.

Back in Riyadh, Ronaldo stayed away. He has now missed every training session across the three cities that hosted the camp, whether in the Saudi capital, Abha or Lisbon, over a full 32 days.

All of this comes just one week before the new season kicks off on 15 August, when Al-Nassr face Al-Fateh in the first round of the Saudi Roshn League.

Ronaldo's continued absence has sparked anger among Al-Nassr fans, and the club's management have stayed silent. So too have the coaching staff led by Australian Ange Postecoglou. There is no set date for his return.

The same story played out four years ago. Back in 2022, Ronaldo skipped the pre-season camp of his former club Manchester United before the start of the new season, missing more than a month despite having no international commitments with Portugal.

United began that camp on 27 June, with the international players joining on 4 July. The Portuguese star was not among them.

He did not return after two days or two weeks. Ronaldo came back a full month after the camp began, apologising and citing his daughter's bronchial inflammation, which had kept her in hospital for a week.

Here is the strange part. When Ronaldo returned on 26 July, he did not come back to train but to discuss leaving the club, hoping to move to a side in the UEFA Champions League, a competition the Red Devils were missing out on.

Not until 30 July 2022 did the Portuguese star finally take part in a Manchester United training session, having skipped the preparatory camp in Thailand and Australia. It hurt his appearances throughout the season.

Erik ten Hag, United's manager at the time, responded by leaving Ronaldo out of his regular starting line-up, arguing that the forward lacked the required fitness after missing the camp.

That decision triggered a string of problems between the pair. Ronaldo eventually unloaded on ten Hag, insisting he had no respect for him, in an explosive interview with broadcaster Piers Morgan in November of the same year.

Ronaldo attacked everyone in that interview, and United responded by terminating his contract. He then joined Al-Nassr on a free transfer in the winter of 2023 and remains with the club to this day.

During that period, Al-Nassr held a preparatory camp in four seasons, the last of which is the current season, from which Ronaldo has been absent for more than a month.

The current delay was not the only one. It was repeated in 2024, after Ronaldo finished his participation with the Portugal national team at the European Championship "Euro 2024".

Back then, Al-Nassr granted a holiday to their international players who took part in the European Championship, as well as in the Copa America, for three weeks from the date of their last match in the two tournaments.

Portugal exited the tournament in the quarter-finals against France on 5 July 2024, yet Ronaldo did not join Al-Nassr's camp until 2 August of the same year, again after nearly a month.

Matters went smoothly at that time, though, especially as he returned 12 days before the team's first matches of the season, which came against Al-Taawoun in the semi-final of the Super Cup on the 14th of the same month.

Ronaldo got himself ready during that period, and he even scored one of the two goals in the win over Al-Taawoun and made the other. That will not be possible this time, with one week remaining until the start of the season.

Some speculation points to the absence of the "Madeira Rocket" from Al-Nassr's first two matches in the new season, against Al-Fateh in the opening rounds of the Roshn League, and Al-Diriyah in the round of 32 of the King's Cup of the Custodian of the Two Holy Mosques.

Such an absence, if it happens, represents a major crisis for Al-Nassr, especially as the club could not bolster their ranks with any players during the current summer transfer window because of the financial crisis they are suffering from.