“It’s bizarre when you think about it”

Premier League legend Alan Shearer has hit out at Cristiano Ronaldo over his ‘bizarre’ ongoing strike at his club Al-Nassr. The 41-year-old forward is set to make himself unavailable for a second successive game to protest against perceived mismanagement of the club.

Still the all-time leading goalscorer in Premier League history, Shearer shared his thoughts on Cristiano Ronaldo’s strike in a chat with Betfair. He pointed out that the forward should not be embarking on a strike as it is not a good enough act for a player of his level despite his superstar status.

“There’s not many people on over £400,000 a day and go on strike. It must be a nice position to be in to say I’m not coming to work despite being on that amount of money. It’s bizarre when you think about it. He’s a superstar but going on strike at that level doesn’t look good”, he said (via GOAL).

Cristiano Ronaldo‘s protest became apparent on transfer deadline day earlier this week, when he refused to feature for Al-Nassr against Al-Riyadh. Reports filtered through media outlets that the former Real Madrid man was unhappy with how the Saudi Public Investment Fund (PIF) allocated funds in the January transfer window.

Ronaldo returned to training after the game but once again refused ruled himself out of contention for their crunch game against Al-Ittihad later today. The forward is said to be prepared to sit out the remainder of the season and seek a move elsewhere in the summer if the changes he’s pressing for are not made.

Benzema stars as Al-Hilal open up lead over Cristiano Ronaldo-less Al-Nassr

Karim Benzema was the star of the show on his debut for Al-Hilal as they claimed a 6-0 win over Al-Okhdood in their Saudi Pro League encounter. The French striker scored a hat-trick for his new side to lead them to a first league win in four attempts.

Benzema joined Al-Hilal for free on transfer deadline day as they sought to hold off the chasing pack, led by Cristiano Ronaldo’s Al-Nassr in their hunt for the league crown. The 38-year-old duly obliged with a treble in the dominant win, with Salem Al-Dawsari adding a brace and Malcom also finding the net.

Al-Hilal have gone back to being four points clear of Al-Nassr, who will take on Benzema’s old side Al-Ittihad without the striking Cristiano Ronaldo. The Knights of Najd will be hopeful of securing a win over the reigning league champions to keep their title hopes alive.