What truly happened to the Al Nassr player who was wearing the number 7 jersey

 

Since Cristiano Ronaldo joined Al Nassr and was immediately given his favourite number seven, there have been rumors that his arrival caused the termination of Jaloliddin Masharipov, who wore the number before his arrival. 

The five-time Ballon d’Or winner became a free agent after seeing his contract at Manchester United terminated. Various landing spots have been mooted for Ronaldo, with the iconic Portuguese forward being linked with teams from England, America, Spain and the Middle East. However, a lucrative offer from Al-Nassr was enough to lure the Portuguese star out of Europe and his favourite jersey is available in Riyadh as Jaloliddin Masharipov passed it on when coming close to completing a move to Al Ahly.

Masharipov is now wearing 77, but Al-Nassr president Musalli Al Muammar says that should not be considered an indicator that Ronaldo will soon be on his way. He has told SSC Sports: “People always like to talk about everything even when it comes to a player’s number on a training ground. I asked the management about the incident, and their response was that he [Masharipov] was on his way to Al Ahly in the summer and his shirt number [No.7] was reserved for another player. But the deal did not take place in the end so Masharipov occupied a new number instead.”

So this means that the rumours which say that the former Al Nassr number 7 saw his contract terminated because of Ronaldo's arrival is false.