Row Z: Ronaldo, Saudi and a morality debate. Plus: Duran’s latest move and Frank’s blind spot

Welcome to Row Z, The Athletic’s weekly column that shines a light on the bonkers side of the game.

From clubs to managers, players to organisations, every week we’ll bring you the absurdities, the greed, the contradictions, the preposterousness and the oddities of the sport we all love…

Siu or… sue? Ronaldo, Saudi and a morality debate

It’s not often you find yourself legitimately siding with a Saudi Arabian football club in a debate on morality.

But when a guy being paid £479,000 ($655,000) per day doesn’t really fancy turning up to work because he disagrees with how the company is being run, well, you perhaps find yourself having sympathetic thoughts towards Al Nassr.

Cristiano Ronaldo has missed two matches in a row since the transfer window closed without the club adding any big-name signings, unlike title rivals Al Hilal, who signed Karim Benzema from Al Ittihad (in a completely normal deal involving two Public Investment Fund-owned clubs).

Ronaldo apparently felt all sad and “let down” by Al Nassr’s lack of investment. Perhaps if they weren’t busy paying the world’s foremost prima donna £175million a year, they might have had a bit of spare cash to sign another centre-back. To be fair, they’ve only spent £360m since he arrived.

Nothing could sum up a Ronaldo hissy fit more than this source-quoted line in the BBC’s report on the matter: “He’s just competitive and doesn’t like other clubs getting stronger.” Oh boo hoo!

Al Nassr — just as Portugal have a weird habit of doing — won both games in Ronaldo’s absence, although reports suggest he is now prepared to end his absence and actually kick a ball for his team again. Maybe the club have bought him his 42nd car (not that he’s counting).

Anyway, in the nine days since he stopped playing, Ronaldo has earned a cool £4.3m. He can throw that on his £1bn pile and start his own football club if he hates the one that’s made him a billionaire so much.

Whatever’s happened behind the scenes, there were two things that would surely have ended this fiasco: 1) remind him he might not reach the 1,000 goals record — one he definitely doesn’t care about — if he’s not playing anymore, or 2) the threat of legal action, which might take some of his fortune away. Altogether now: “Ssssuuuueeeee.”

A new club every 3.25 months…

Talking of talented-yet-unmanageable Al Nassr strikers with an ego the size of a continent, it was a big day for Jhon “remember him” Duran on Monday, with the Colombian striker sealing a move to Zenit Saint Petersburg.

Hang on, wasn’t Duran the guy who moved to Generic Saudi Arabian Team last year for £64.5m? Yes, that’s right.

Although actually, wasn’t Duran the guy who went on loan to Turkish side Fenerbahce, also last year? Yep, correct. It’s all gone a bit weird for the Colombian, who clearly hasn’t been told that prolific South American strikers usually head to Saudi, Turkey and Russia at the end of their careers, not the start.

His Zenit unveiling featured Duran as a Men in Black character, presumably because he wants us to look into the device and forget the past 12 months of his increasingly unhinged career.

Aston Villa, Al Nassr, Fenerbahce (loan) and now Zenit (loan) since the start of 2025 makes it six clubs in his professional career so far for the 22-year-old. Yep, 22-year-old.

We can’t work out what the issue is. The guy who publicly flirted with Bayern Munich and West Ham United while at Villa, reportedly lived in Bahrain when at Saudi (taking an 80-minute flight to training) despite them paying him more than €10m (£8.7m, $11.9m) a year net and is thought to have a penchant for repeatedly turning up late to training seems like a model pro to us.

It’s a shame really because there’s clearly a ridiculously talented player there; his goals-per-minute records at Villa (one every 113 minutes) and Al Nassr (one every 128 minutes) are excellent.

Unfortunately for Duran, it’s his teams-per-year record (one every 3.25 months) since January 2025 that feels more relevant.

It’s a bit of a fall from grace for a striker once heralded as potentially one of the best in the world by his former Villa team-mate Emiliano Martinez.

Anyway, Duran — so good they named him once — joins Zenit in time for their big upcoming matches against Baltika and Orenburg. We won’t be watching.

Romero’s rashness a shock to Frank

Tottenham Hotspur defender Cristian Romero: serial red-card merchant, Premier League suspension king and all-round agent of chaos.Tottenham Hotspur head coach Thomas Frank, who appointed the Argentine as captain at the start of the season: unaware.

Here’s an exchange between Frank and Football London’s Spurs reporter Alasdair Gold after Romero’s latest red (his fourth in the Premier League since joining the club in 2021, or six in all competitions, the most of any Premier League player during this period) for attempting to scythe Casemiro’s foot in two during their defeat at Manchester United on Saturday.

Frank: “If you look at how many red cards he has had, it’s not like he had that many throughout his career. You play with passion and aggression and there’s a fine line when you do that.”

Gold: “He’s got the most in the Premier League since he arrived at the club… .”

Frank: “At the club?”

Gold: “Yeah.”

Frank: “Yeah, but not in Premier League?”

Gold: “Of Premier League players I think.”

Frank: “Of Premier League players? OK, I didn’t know that.”

Oh Thomas.

Watford are Still at it

If you’re wondering what Watford are up to these days, well, you can probably guess.

They’re onto their third manager of the season, their 10th in four-and-a-bit years and their 20th since the start of the 2014-15 season.

The new guy is Still. Nope, not Will Still, formerly of Southampton and Lens fame, but ‘Ed’ Still, his non-union Mexican equivalent older brother. Is this a bit like when the BBC put that bloke on air because he was also called Guy?

Possibly. We mean no disrespect to the Daniel Baldwin of the Still family, but the fact is his last managerial role was in 2023, when Belgian side Kortrijk sacked him after eight games in charge and no victories.

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