Ronaldo is subbed off early after edging closer to 1,000-goal milestone

Cristiano Ronaldo was taken off after 56 minutes during Al-Nassr's 5-0 win at Al-Najma - with fans joking that he wanted to watch Real Madrid instead.

Ronaldo had converted a penalty in the first half to reach 965 career goals and spurned other opportunities to edge closer to his target of 1,000.

The Portuguese icon has been in blistering form since returning from his strike over the club's transfer activity, scoring four times in three games.

But he was denied more than half an hour of action on Wednesday night as Jorge Jesus withdrew him early.

Spanish outlet AS, who were watching the match, claimed that the 41-year-old was 'upset' by being hooked and he did look glum on the bench according to the photos from the match.

But that hasn't stopped fans from speculating that CR7 secretly wanted to come off in order to watch his beloved Real Madrid, who have been in action against Benfica in the Champions League play-offs.

'Ronaldo asked Jorge Jesus to be subbed off. He wanted to watch the Real Madrid game,' one supporter claimed on X.

There is no evidence to suggest that the forward asked to come off or that he checked his phone while he was on the bench.

Indeed, he has plenty of reason to be invested in Al-Nassr as his goal helped them to the top of the Saudi Pro League.

Ronaldo is yet to win a major trophy since making the switch to the Saudi side in 2023.

He is committed to grind - though £488,000 per day sweetens the deal - as he recently reaffirmed his loyalty to Al-Nassr despite his strike.

When asked about the situation on Saturday, Ronaldo said: 'I’m very happy. As I say so many times, I belong to Saudi Arabia.

'It’s a country that welcomed me, my family and my friends very well. I’m happy here. I want to continue here.

'And the most important thing, it’s we keep pushing. We are there at the top.

'Our job is to win, make pressure [on our title rivals], and let’s see. We are on track.

'We’re back, we are good, we are confident. Game by game. We are in good shape. Let’s see what’s going to happen.'

Ronaldo had been furious with what he perceived to be a lack of transfer backing for Al-Nassr from PIF compared to their rivals.

The situation was exacerbated further when Karim Benzema was granted a transfer to Al-Hilal and Ronaldo went on strike for three games.

His behaviour led to serious questions over his future in the league - despite his position as the biggest and most marketable name.

Ronaldo's actions had irritated the Saudi Pro League, with the top flight releasing a statement warning 'no individual determines decisions beyond their own club'.

Title rivals Al-Hilal have a net spend £180million higher than that of his own team since the 2022-23 season, when he arrived.