Cristiano Ronaldo Sees Off Ex-Premier League Star Five Months After Record Transfer | OneFootball

Barely five months after surprisingly leaving Aston Villa to join Al Nassr at the end of January, Jhon Durán is poised to link up with José Mourinho at Fenerbahçe.

Durán had established himself as one of the most exciting young prospects the Premier League had to offer during the first half of the 2024–25 campaign. Despite being largely restricted to a substitutes’ role, the Colombian striker began the season with four goals in five games.

By the time Durán scored his final Premier League goal before Christmas he was Villa’s most prolific player with the same tally as Liverpool starlet Luis Díaz. Despite links to the likes of Bayern Munich and Barcelona, the 21-year-old made the somewhat unexpected leap to Cristiano Ronaldo’s Al Nassr in the Saudi Pro League.

The £65 million ($89.4 million) fee Villa extracted for a player who had only cost £18 million ($24.8 million) two years earlier is the most expensive ever paid by Al Nassr and only surpassed by Neymar’s move to Al Hilal in Saudi Pro League history.

Durán was instantly prolific, scoring the first two goals in a 3–0 win over Al Fayha on his league debut before Ronaldo rounded off proceedings. “It feels like I'm playing FIFA Career Mode,” Durán gushed post-game. “I’m celebrating goals with Cristiano Ronaldo!”

Jhon Duran scored 12 goals in 18 games for Al Nassr. / IMAGO/Abdullah Ahmed

The two centre-forwards only made 13 appearances alongside each other but managed to both hit double digits during these fixtures—Ronaldo edged out Durán with 11 to his 10. However, it wasn’t an entirely harmonious spell.

The infamously combustible forward was sent off on just his third league outing for Al Nassr at the end of a 3–2 defeat to Al Ettifaq, much to the evident fury of a raging Ronaldo.

Despite the dual source of goals, Al Nassr sank to third in the Saudi top flight, missing out on qualification for next season’s AFC Champions League. Neither Durán nor Ronaldo scored as Al Nassr were knocked out in the semifinals of the continental competition last April.

Multiple outlets have reported Durán’s impending arrival in Türkiye, with The Telegraph claiming that the player pushed for a return to Europe due to the “turbulence at Al Nassr.” Ronaldo’s ever-expanding influence is perceived to be a concern, while the club are being sued by their former chief executive Majed Jaman Al-Sorour who questioned the “unprofessional, inappropriate and unacceptable” nature of his sacking.

Al-Sorour and Durán may have left Riyadh, but Ronaldo isn’t going anywhere any time soon. After flirting with an exit, the 40-year-old penned a new two-year contract thought to be worth as much as £492 million ($676.4 million).