- Cristiano Ronaldo earned the Golden Boot award for the 2023–24 season, setting a new record in the Saudi Pro League.
- The Al Nassr forward scored 35 goals in only 31 games to finish seven goals ahead of Aleksandar Mitrovic of Al Hilal
- Al-Nassr’s victory meant that they placed second in the standings for the second straight season.
Cristiano Ronaldo earned the Golden Boot award for the 2023–24 season, setting a new record in the Saudi Pro League.
The competition to determine who would end the season as the top goalscorer was intriguing due to the infusion of star players into the Saudi Pro League. Ronaldo ultimately outperformed everyone else, breaking the record for the most goals in a single Saudi Premier League season.
Nobody else scored more than 20, and the Al Nassr forward scored 35 goals in only 31 games to finish seven goals ahead of Aleksandar Mitrovic of Al Hilal. Sadio Mane and Karim Benzema, for example, who were anticipated to challenge Ronaldo for the most goals scored, had a rough season at Al Nassr, while Neymar missed nearly the whole season with a major injury.
Before an injury ended his season, Ronaldo’s Al Nassr colleague Anderson Talisca was a contender, while Abderrazak Hamdallah’s last weeks of play were also marred by a fitness concern. In the latter part of 2023–2024, Mitrovic was therefore Ronaldo’s only opponent, and the Serbian international was unable to keep up.
Cristiano Ronaldo plays for Al-Nassr in the Saudi Pro League. Photo/ Goal.pl.
Hamdallah of Al Ittihad, a Moroccan international, scored 21 of the 60 goals his side scored in route to winning the Saudi Pro League in 2022–2023. In the five seasons before, it was his third Golden Boot.
Ronaldo entered Al Nassr in the middle of the season and participated in just 16 games, but he still managed to finish in fifth position with 14 goals, while Hamdallah did his damage across 26 games.
After 22 years of playing, Ronaldo has already scored 765 goals. During that time, he has played for Sporting Lisbon, Manchester United, Real Madrid, and Juventus.
With 128 goals from 206 games for Portugal, he also holds the record for men’s international goals.
Al-Nassr’s victory meant that they placed second in the standings for the second straight season, behind winner Al-Hilal by 14 points but leading third-place Al-Ahli by 17.
In addition to winning nine Pro League championships, six King Cups, three Crown Prince’s Cups, three Federation Cups, and two Super Cups domestically, Al Nassr boasts an amazing collection of 28 recognized trophies.
Al Hilal won the league the title in 2023–24, although Ronaldo’s team was unable to win it last season against Al Ittihad. Al Ain also eliminated Al Nassr from the AFC Champions League via penalties.
Is Martial headed to the Saudi League?
Anthony Martial leaves Manchester United. Photo/ Eurosport.
Anthony Martial stated on Monday that he will be leaving the team when his contract ends at the end of June.
The 28-year-old attacker, who joined the Reds in September 2015 after leaving Monaco, made 317 appearances and scored 90 goals, including a memorable solo effort on his Old Trafford debut against Liverpool.
Later that season, Martial won his first winners’ medal as United won the FA Cup under Louis van Gaal. Naturally, the triumph was repeated the previous weekend. However, the striker’s injuries prevented him from participating in the 2023–24 campaign; his last Premier League match came on December 9 against Bournemouth.
He had not been a member of the team for months and had suffered injuries in previous seasons, so the departure was anticipated.
He posted on social media, saying, “I write to you today to say goodbye. It’s with great emotion.”
He was a member of Jose Mourinho’s team that finished the club’s trophy collection in 2017 by winning the Europa League. He also won the Carabao Cup twice when he was a Red.
Having scored 23 goals in 2019–20, Martial was the club’s top scorer and earned a spot on our Players’ Player of the Year trophy. It was his finest individual performance to date.
There have been rumours that Anthony Martial has received several offers from the Saudi League and it will be interesting to see which club the Frenchman goes to in the summer.
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