Al-Nassr's Rakan Al-Ghamdi Faces 4-6 Weeks Out Due to Injury
Al-Nassr have been hit with a damaging setback on the eve of the Roshn League’s return, losing one of their most promising youngsters at the very moment he was breaking through.
Club medical tests have confirmed that 21-year-old midfielder Rakan Al-Ghamdi has suffered a sprained knee ligament and bruised cartilage, an injury that will sideline him for between four and six weeks, according to Saudi newspaper Arriyadiyah.
Breakthrough halted
The timing could hardly be worse for Al-Ghamdi. After months of work in the youth ranks, he had just begun to force his way into the first-team picture. Australian coach Ange Postecoglou handed him his senior debut in the AFC Champions League Elite opener against UAE side Al-Ain, bringing him on in the second half.
That night ended badly enough on the scoreboard, with Al-Nassr losing 4-0. Now it carries an extra sting: the player who took his first steps at that level will have to wait weeks before he can build on them.
The blow is not confined to Postecoglou’s squad. Al-Ghamdi has been a key figure for the under-21 side as well, and it was with them that the injury struck. He picked it up in the final training session before last Friday’s clash with Damac in the Joy League Elite competition.
Al-Nassr’s youngsters went on to win that match 1-0, but they did so without the player who had been expected to feature. The cost of that training-ground setback is now clear: both the first team and the U21s lose a versatile option at a crucial stage of the season.
Double headache for Al-Nassr
For the senior side, Al-Ghamdi’s absence removes a fresh, energetic option just as he had started to edge into the coach’s plans, balancing minutes between the Roshn League squad and the youth team. For the under-21s, it strips away a regular presence in a period when the group “needs every man available,” as the report framed it.
The length of the layoff only deepens the problem. With a projected four-to-six-week recovery, Al-Nassr must now navigate a key stretch of fixtures without a player earmarked for gradual integration at the top level.
First-team players are due back in training on Monday evening after being granted a short break following the Asian defeat. From there, focus swings straight back to the domestic race.
Al-Nassr resume their Roshn League campaign on 9 October at Al-Awwal Park, where they face Al-Diriyah in the eighth round. They currently sit third in the table on 16 points, just two behind leaders Al-Hilal.
In a title race that already leaves no room for missteps, losing a rising squad member who was covering both present needs and future plans is the kind of complication Postecoglou could have done without.
