On Friday, cristiano ronaldo completed a lucrative move to Saudi Arabian club al nassr. Ronaldo’s contract with the Saudi giants is thought to be worth more than 200 million euros, and it could be his final contract. The club shared a photo of the five-time Ballon d’Or winner holding up the team’s jersey on social media.
Ronaldo, 37, has penned a contract until June 2025 as the club hailed the move as ‘history in the making’. “I can’t wait to learn about a new football league in a different country,” the former Manchester United, Real Madrid, and Juventus player said. “The vision with which Al Nassr operates is very inspiring, and I am thrilled to join my teammates in order to help the team achieve greater success,” he added. Al Nassr has won nine Saudi Arabian league titles, the most recent being in 2019.
Ronaldo travels to the Gulf after a year in which he was demoted to the bench for Portugal and released by Manchester United. United parted ways with the veteran forward after he said he felt “betrayed” by the club and had no respect for coach Erik ten Hag in an explosive TV interview. While Ronaldo was with Portugal at the World Cup, United terminated his contract. Ronaldo’s quest for a World Cup winner’s medal got off to a good start when he became the first player to score in five global tournaments by converting a penalty in their win over Ghana. However, he was left out of the starting lineup for Portugal’s last-16 match against Switzerland.
When Portugal lost to Morocco in the quarterfinals, he came off the bench and sobbed his way out of the tournament. Ronaldo has long been one of the highest-paid football players. His salary at Juventus was reported to be 31 million euros, but the Turin club’s accounts are being investigated for possibly under-reporting what they paid players. While he took a pay cut to rejoin United, with reports estimating his basic annual salary to be between 15 and 28 million euros before bonuses, he remained one of Europe’s highest-paid players. As his relationship with Manchester United deteriorated, Ronaldo was linked to a number of Champions League contenders, including Chelsea, Bayern Munich, and Napoli.
