Saudi Arabian side Al-Nassr are reportedly ‘very interested’ in signing Chelsea midfielder N’Golo Kante along with ex-Man Utd star Cristiano Ronaldo.
Al-Nassr have emerged as the clear favourites to sign Ronaldo following his exit from Manchester United.
The 37-year-old is a free agent after his contract was terminated by mutual consent last month.
This followed Ronaldo’s controversial interview with Piers Morgan for TalkTV. During this exchange, the forward slammed Erik ten Hag, Ralf Rangnick and the Glazer family.
It initially seemed that Ronaldo would leave Man Utd and join a club competing in the Champions League but his mind appears to have changed by the lure of a £173m a year contract.
If Al-Nassr get their way, they will sign Ronaldo and he will soon be joined by Kante.
The Premier League winner has been superb for Chelsea but he has barely played this season due to injuries.
His contract is set to expire next summer and it is expected that he will leave the club on a free transfer.
Speaking back in October, Blues boss Graham Potter insisted they were prioritising Kante’s fitness over talks over a new deal.
“The most important thing for us and for me is that we help him get fit. That’s the focus,” Potter said.
“He’s got a long road ahead of him, so we’ve got to make sure we get the right plan and recovery for him.
“And when he’s enjoying his football we can think about those things then.”
FC Barcelona love a free transfer so they are unsurprisingly in the running to sign Kante.
But according to Foot Mercato, they face competition from Al-Nassr for Kante.
The Middle East side are ‘very interested’ in the World Cup winner.
It is said that Kante would ‘be happy’ to remain at Chelsea but at the same time he ‘wouldn’t be against’ joining Al-Nassr.
The report notes that Barcelona are keen on Kante but from a financial standpoint, Al-Nassr are the favourites.
An ‘obstacle’ in the way of Al-Nassr signing Ronaldo and Kante is that they are only allowed seven foreign players at one time.
They currently have eight on their books with Luiz Gustavo, Vincent Aboubakar and Alvaro Gonzalez among them.
You would imagine it will not be a big burden for Al-Nassr to let one or two of these players leave with Kante and Ronaldo being more marketable names to have on their books than their current crop of players.
Kante leaving the Premier League would be sad but he has earned a big-money contract to end his career after what he’s done for Leicester City and Chelsea.
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