Official! 'Cabecita' Rodriguez leaves Cruz Azul to play in Arabia with Al-Nassr

Jonathan Rodríguez will begin a new stage in his career after helping Cruz Azul win its ninth title. The Uruguayan signed with Al-Nassr of Saudi Arabia, the club announced Tuesday. 

"The club's management has finalized the procedures for the signing of Uruguay international Jonathan Rodriguez after buying his contract from Mexican club Cruz Azul," Al Nassr said on its Twitter account.

Jonathan's transfer fee was US$6 million

It was also reported that 'El Cabecita' is expected to undergo a medical check-up in the next few hours before joining his new team.

According to close sources, the striker will join Al-Nassr for US$6 million for one hundred percent of the rights, minus taxes and commissions for the player and his two representatives, leaving Cruz Azul with US$5 million free.

La Máquina rushed to sell the striker because the player only had one year left on his contract, which expired in December 2022, and due to the bad relationship the board had with the former Santos Laguna, the best alternative was to recover part of what they invested when they decided to buy the striker instead of letting the player go on a free transfer.

Cruz Azul paid US$10 million for the Uruguayan.

Cabecita' Rodríguez signed for a salary of US$250,000 per month

His contract would cover several years to join the Arabian football team, after joining Cruz Azul in the first half of 2019, coming from Santos Laguna.

Jonathan Rodríguez leaves Liga MX with two league championships; perhaps the most important is the one he won with La Máquina Celeste, as he helped break Cruz Azul's 23 years streak without a title. ‘Cabecita´ arrived in Mexico in 2016 to play for Santos Laguna. 

Rodríguez scored 50 goals with the Cementero team, which he joined three years ago, winning the Liga MX, Supercopa MX, Campeón de Campeones and the Leagues Cup. 

Cruz Azul’s departures

With the departure of Rodríguez, there are now five confirmed departures, as Walter Montoya, Yoshimar Yotún, Roberto Alvarado, and Orbelín Pineda also left la Máquina, although only Piojo remained in the Liga MX with Chivas de Guadalajara. 

Cruz Azul´s additions

However, the Cementero have also added five players to their roster. Erik Lira from Pumas, Charly Rodríguez from Monterrey, Uriel Antuna and Alejandro Mayorga from Chivas de Guadalajara and Christián Tabó from Puebla. The club is still looking for two more reinforcements, a center back and a striker to fill the position left by the Uruguayan.