Saudi player fired for refusing to give up No. 7 jersey for Cristiano Ronaldo? Al Nassr clarifies

Since Cristiano Ronaldo joined Saudi Arabia's Al Nassr club, rumour mills had been on overdrive. And one speculation that made the rounds on social media was that a player had to be fired because he refused to give up his No. 7 jersey for the football star.

Ronaldo has always worn No. 7 at his previous clubs Manchester United, Real Madrid and Juventus — as well as with the Portugal team. In fact, many would even refer to him as CR7. So, when he finalised his Al Nassr move, it was expected that he will wear the same number, but this time in yellow.

Social media posts that circulated recently claimed that Al Nassr's Uzbek player Jaloliddin Masharipov had his contract terminated because he didn't want to lose his No. 7 jersey.

In a tweet, a Netizen that goes by the handle @StokkeyG2 said:

This claim however, is not true, the football club has clarified. Masharipov had actually switched to No. 77 before Ronaldo joined Al Nassr.

When news agency AFP reached out to the club for fact-checking, a representative rubbished the claim and confirmed that Masharipov agreed to change his jersey number before Ronaldo's signing was announced.

In a number of Instagram posts, the Uzbek player even shared photos of him and CR7, highlighting their jersey numbers:

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