Former Manchester United man could face Al Nassr and Champions League heartache

Former Manchester United defender Alex Telles could face heartache despite new club Al Nassr booking their place in the AFC Champions League with a play-off victory on Tuesday.

Brazilian forward Anderson Talisca scored twice as the team recorded a 4-2 win over Shabab Al-Ahli to book their place in the AFC’s premier club competition. However, this has left the Saudi Arabian club with a squad dilemma due to the governing body’s rules over foreign players.

Cristiano Ronaldo’s arrival in Saudi Arabia has sparked a flurry of transfer activity across the league, with Al Nassr also bolstering their squad with several high-profile names. The club will be able to name five non-Asian players in their Champions League squad, plus a sixth foreign player from another association within AFC, leaving Al Nassr with a decision to make.

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Ronaldo has been joined by Bayern Munich’s Sadio Mane, as well as Inter Milan midfielder Marcelo Brozovic. Former United defender Telles has been reunited with Ronaldo this summer and Al Nassr also moved to bring in Seko Fofana from Lens.

However, the club have since signed Otavio from Porto and already have Anderson Talisca in their squad, who has played a starring role since signing from Guangzhou Evergrande in 2021. Talisca has scored 20 league goals in each of his two seasons with the club and was pivotal to Al Nassr booking their place in the AFC Champions League.

Neither Telles nor Otavio were part of the squad that defeated Shabab Al-Ahli. Even if the Saudi side opted to sell Talisca, one of the team’s foreign players will be forced to miss out when Al Nassr register their tournament squad. The