Ghareeb Renewal at Al-Nassr: The Quiet Winger Set to Stay?

Current Renewal Talks and Ghareeb’s Role

Saudi media reports indicate that Al-Nassr’s management has begun moves to renew Abdulrahman Ghareeb’s contract, aiming to keep the dynamic winger for a longer spell at the club. While Ghareeb has not been at his peak this season, he remains a player the club values, and veteran coach Jorge Jesus has been clear that Ghareeb is part of the team’s long-term plans.

According to the Saudi newspaper Al-Youm, Al-Nassr touched base with Ghareeb over a renewal after consulting Jesus, who advised keeping him on the books. Limited minutes.

Gharem’s main contributions this season have come in the AFC Champions League 2, where he has delivered the best numbers of his campaign: four appearances, three goals and three assists across 271 minutes of action. In the domestic league, however, he has featured in six matches but only as a substitute, totaling 33 minutes of play.

In the King’s Cup, a competition Al-Nassr exited early in the Round of 16 to Al-Ittihad, Ghareeb played a single match and recorded one assist in 63 minutes, and he did not participate in the Saudi Super Cup earlier in the season.

Strategic Context and Alternatives

Given these figures, Jesus is keen to keep Ghareeb and renew his contract, noting that Ghareeb’s current deal runs until the end of the season.

What may have encouraged the Portuguese coach to keep Ghareeb on the bench early this season is that he now possesses sharper tools and a more positive balance, especially with the arrival of French winger Kingsley Coman from Bayern Munich last summer and Joao Felix in the No. 10 role, both of whom have shown a strong goalscoring threat and are contesting the top scorer position.

In addition, Senegalese forward Sadio Mane has regained his peak form, providing a crucial attacking axis for Jesus, while Cristiano Ronaldo remains a central figure as the team’s traditional focal point up front. The pair of Wesley and Gabriel also add depth to the attacking options, especially given the demanding fixture schedule.

Asian star

Jesus reportedly prefers Ghareeb in AFC Champions League 2, believing the 28-year-old can express his abilities and play freely without pressure in this competition, where Al-Nassr has yet to confront a heavyweight opponent. With Al-Nassr’s ambitions in Asia, Ghareeb appears poised to play a bigger role in upcoming ties.

Ghareeb’s style centers on ball possession and dribbling to create space for himself and teammates, a facet that aligns with Jesus’s broader attacking philosophy. At 28, Ghareeb is approaching the tally he achieved at his former club Al-Ahli, having played 109 matches there, just nine short of that mark with a different shirt.

Yet Ghareeb’s numbers with Al-Nassr include a goal tally of 17 across all competitions—matching his output at Al-Ahli—and his 27 assists for the current club mark a considerable improvement over his time with Al-Ahli.

Transfer window and squad decisions

Jesus has made a special request to Al-Nassr’s management during the current break, urging the club to sign a foreign striker in the upcoming winter transfer window. He believes a new foreign forward would strengthen the squad for both AFC Champions League 2 and the Saudi League, while also bolstering the bench depth for the demanding schedule ahead.

According to Al-Youm, the club has not yet acted on this request, and the decision appears contingent on potential departures of Brazilian duo Wesley and Pinto Matheus, before the club proceeds with a new foreign acquisition.

Meanwhile, Al-Nassr recently granted players a rest after a 4-0 win over Esteghlal Tajik in AFC Champions League 2, and the coach did not feature in the King’s Cup quarterfinals following the team’s exit to Al-Ittihad. The tactical focus remains on maintaining a strong squad depth for the broader campaign.

On the transfer front, Jesus has signaled openness to letting Wesley and Pinto Matheus leave, and the club has given him the green light to move them on in the winter market if viable. Despite Wesley’s signing last season and limited appearances in recent campaigns, Jesus has not ruled out his departure. The club signed the Brazilian winger in the summer of 2024 for about €22.6 million, and there were reports from the Portuguese press that Sporting CP could be interested in Wesley in the near term.

Since joining Al-Nassr, Wesley has contributed four goals and four assists in 33 appearances across all competitions, while Pinto is reportedly nearing the exit door as he has fallen out of Jesus’s plans.

In summary, the renewal talks for Ghareeb sit at a crossroads with strategic transfer considerations, a crowded frontline, and the coach’s clear desire to strengthen the squad for sustained success in domestic and continental competitions. Time will tell whether Ghareeb remains a facet of Jesus’s rotation or becomes a more central figure in Al-Nassr’s long-term plans.

Punchline 1: If Ghareeb signs on, the only thing longer than the contract will be the pre-match pep talks.
Punchline 2: With this many forwards on the sheet, the bench is basically a transfer market in disguise—bring popcorn, the subs are coming!”