“I was one step away from Al-Hilal” - Cristiano Ronaldo’s superstar teammate says he nearly joined Al-Nassr’s rivals

Cristiano Ronaldo's Al-Nassr teammate Anderson Talisca has said that he was on the cusp of joining the club's rivals Al-Hilal.

Talisca, 30, has been a solid performer for Al-Alami, alongside his captain Ronaldo. In 24 games across competitions, the attacking midfielder has notched up 22 goals and four assists.

All four assists and 13 of those goals have come in 16 games in the Saudi Pro League, where Luis Castro's side only trail runaway pacesetters Al-Hilal (59) by seven points after 21 games.

Having arrived at Mrsool Park in the summer of 2021, Talisca has 65 goals and 10 assists in 84 games across competitions. However, the player - who arrived from Guangzhou - said that he very nearly joined Al-Hilal (as per 9NFCBALL, as translated from Arabic):

"I was one step away from Al Hilal, but I chose Al-Nassr in the end."

Talisca and Ronaldo have led Al-Nassr's charge this season, with a combined 65 goal contributions, with the latter contributing 39 (28 goals, 11 assists) of them.

In fact, Ronaldo tops both the goalscoring and assists charts in the SPL, with 22 goals and nine assists. Talisca is fifth in the goal charts with 13 strikes and has also had four assists.

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How has Cristiano Ronaldo fared at Al-Nassr?

Cristiano Ronaldo

Cristiano Ronaldo arrived at Al-Nassr in December 2022 on a free transfer after two decades in European football.

He played for some of the top clubs in the game, like Real Madrid, Manchester United, Juventus, etc, scoring goals galore. One of the best players in the game's history, the 39-year-old is still going strong, having amassed a record 877 goals for club and country.

Forty-eight of those strikes (in 54 games) have come for Al-Alami. The tally includes six goals in the Arab Club Champions Cup just before the ongoing season.

As mentioned above, Ronaldo has been on a tear in the 2023-24 campaign. He ended 2023 as the top scorer for club and country with 54 strikes and has continued from where he left off last year.

In four competitive games in 2024, the Al-Alami captain has scored as many times as he closes in on 50 goals for his current side.