By Samuel A. December 30, 2023
After a bitter ending to his era at Manchester United, Cristiano Ronaldo has signed with Al Nassr on a two year deal. He signed a contract through the summer of 2025 and, according to reports, will receive $75 million per year, thus making him the highest paid player in history. He’d then continue to work as an ambassador for Saudi Arabian football.
The Portuguese had been free to look for a new club after he left Manchester United, a few days before the 2022 World Cup. Ronaldo gave a controversial interview to Piers Morgan, where he claimed he did not respect current United coach Erik ten Hag, and listed a number of shortcomings in his treatment by the club. He had returned to Manchester United in the summer of 2021 from Juventus, but the club were unable to secure a Champions League place despite Ronaldo finishing at the side’s top goalscorer. Manager Ole Gunnar Solskjaer was replaced by Ralf Rangnick midway through the season, before Ten Hag arrived. The Dutchman did not find a regular space for Ronaldo in his starting line-up, and dropped the striker after he refused to come on as a substitute during a Premier League match against Tottenham. He attempted to leave the club last summer but was unable to find a team who were willing to take him, with concerns over his agility for top European sides, and mostly, his wage demands. Ronaldo was also not named in the starting line-up for Portugal’s 6-1 win over Switzerland during the World Cup. The exit from the World Cup allowed him to shift focus to finding a new club, and he will be playing his next football in Saudi Arabia.
Ronaldo will arrive in Saudi Arabia, having completed club football, with a collection of club honours after a dynamic spell at Spanish giants Real Madrid from 2009-2018 where he won two La Liga titles, two Spanish Cups, four Champions League titles and three Club World Cups. He went on to score a club record 451 times for Real and has more than 800 senior goals overall for club and country. He also claimed two Serie A titles and a Coppa Italia trophy in three years at Juventus before rejoining United with whom he had won three Premier League crowns, the FA Cup, two League Cups, the Champions League and Club World Cup. He also has the second highest golden balls in history, with 5 Ballon D’ors to his name.”We’re going to see a lot less of him, obviously,” Sky Sports reporter Gary Neville said. “It tells us a couple of things. One, how serious Saudi Arabia is about football. They aren’t going away. They’ve invested £350m on one player. They are trying to strengthen the league.”
