Karim Benzema has completed a controversial switch from Al-Ittihad to Al-Hilal, marking a bitter blow for Cristiano Ronaldo. Ronaldo went on strike for Al-Nassr's trip to Al-Riyadh on Monday as he was reportedly furious with their lack of spending on transfers. It is therefore a sucker punch that Al-Hilal - who are leading the Saudi Pro League by a single point over Al-Nassr - have been allowed to sign one of his greatest allies from his Real Madrid days. The key context in all of this is that all three clubs, as well as Al-Ahli, are majority controlled by the Saudi Public Investment Fund [PIF]. Ronaldo has reportedly been aggrieved that Al-Hilal have a net spend £180million higher than that of his own team since the 2022-23 season, when he arrived. They are on course to hoover up a second league title in three years while Ronaldo remains without a major trophy in the Middle East. After Monday's match, Al-Nassr's chiefs banned manager Jorge Jesus or any players from speaking out ami...