Cristiano Ronaldo goes into sporting insignificance. After being kicked out at Manchester United, the football superstar finds a new club in Saudi Arabia. Al-Nassr equips Ronaldo with a mega contract – he really wanted to play the Champions League.
Former world footballer Cristiano Ronaldo is continuing his recently stalled career in Saudi Arabia. The 37-year-old Portuguese, who was kicked out at Manchester United in November after his general settlement with the club, has signed a contract with Al-Nassr until 2025. There has been speculation about this change for a long time because Ronaldo had searched in vain for a new employer in Europe.
“More than history is being made here. This is a commitment that will not only inspire our club to even greater success, but will also inspire our league, our nation and future generations, boys and girls, to be the best version of themselves to be,” Al-Nassr explained on Instagram. Ronaldo posted the identical statement, showing off his new yellow and blue number 7 shirt.
After that, Ronaldo will probably act as ambassador to help the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, which is controversial because of its human rights violations, to be awarded the contract to host the 2030 World Cup finals (together with Egypt and Greece). According to media reports, Ronaldo’s annual salary should be around 200 million euros.
After Portugal’s World Cup elimination in the quarter-finals, Ronaldo kept fit at Real Madrid’s training ground before Christmas. The goalscorer had played for the Royals from 2009 to 2018 and during this period contributed 450 goals in 438 games to winning four Champions League titles, among others. Other stations in his professional career were Sporting Lisbon, Juventus Turin and twice Manchester United.
Ronaldo actually wanted to continue playing in the Champions League, but couldn’t find a new club in top European football in the summer. His advisor knocked on the door in all the top leagues, including Bayern Munich, Borussia Dortmund and even Europa League winner Eintracht Frankfurt, as club boss Axel Hellmann recently revealed. Nobody struck. Too expensive, too capricious, too little future.
During the World Cup, Ronaldo was kicked out by United. His application attempts in the Portuguese national jersey were moderate. The former fixed star was demoted to reservists in the course of the tournament. The move to Saudi Arabia may be appealing in many ways, but in terms of sport, the 37-year-old says goodbye to insignificance. The league has an average attendance of around 8,000 people, and his new club is not represented in the Asian Champions League.