Cristiano Ronaldo confirms his arrival at Al-Nassar of Saudi Arabia

It is one of the most impressive signings in history: the five-time Ballon d’Or Cristiano Ronaldo, now left aside at 37 by the greats of Europe, opted for a “golden exile” by signing on Friday for two and a half years with the Saudi club Al-Nasr.

Without a team since the termination of his contract with Manchester United at the end of November, “CR-7“, who likes to show off his “jet set” lifestyle on social media, accepted the Saudi offer and will earn an estimated salary of around 200 million euros ($214 million) over those two and a half years. .

“I am impatient to discover a new football championship in a different country,” he said. Cristiano Ronaldoquoted on the Twitter account of his new club and who posed with his new yellow and blue shirt, decorated with his usual number 7.

“Al-Nassr’s vision of men’s and women’s football is very inspiring, we have been able to see during the World Cup that Saudi Arabia was a country with many ambitions and potential,” he added in a statement published by the communication agency that represents the Portuguese star.

The signing also directs the spotlight towards the Saudi league, unknown to the general public.

“History is being written. This signing will not only inspire our club to achieve even more success, but it will inspire our championship, our country and future generations of boys and girls to give their best.” themselves,” Al-Nassr said.

Cristiano Ronaldo He has a spectacular track record, with five Ballon d’Ors, five titles in the European Champions League (2008, 2014, 2016, 2017, 2018), Italian champion titles with Juventus (2019, 2020, Spain with Real Madrid (2012, 2017) and England with Manchester United (2007, 2008, 2009).

He is also the top scorer in the Champions League and in the history of the Portuguese team, with which he won the Euro Cup in 2016.

A few months under the storm

However, Cristiano Ronaldothe most followed personality on the Instagram social network, has just had a few difficult months, after his stormy exit from Manchester Unitedthe club in which he had made himself known in the elite between 2003 and 2009, and to which he had returned in 2021 after his time at Real Madrid (2009-2018) and Juventus (2018-2021).

Since the middle of this year, Cristiano Ronaldotrained at Sporting Lisbon in his country, wanted to leave Manchester United and the arrival of Dutch coach Erik Ten Hag, who limited his playing time, made the situation worse.

In an interview in November, just before the World Cup, he criticized past and present coaches, managers and former teammates, without being self-critical.

Soon after, the Manchester United announced the termination of his contract “by common consent”.

During the last World Cup, his playing time was limited and Portugal was eliminated in the quarterfinals of Qatar-2022 for Morocco.

Al Nassr, trained since July by the Frenchman Rudi García, won nine Saudi Arabian champion titles, the last of them in 2019.

Neither Europe nor the United States

The termination of his contract in England in the middle of the World Cup then left him free to direct the end of his career to the place he wanted. Or rather, to the place that he could.

At first he thought that he could still have options to shine in a club that was a candidate to win the Champions League and names like Chelsea, Bayern Munich, Napoli or even his home club, Sporting Lisbon, the latter already on another level of relevance.

But neither option materialized. The MLS and Inter Miami track also did not come to fruition.

After his failed World Cup, Cristiano Ronaldo exercised at the Real Madrid facilities, the club where he lived his best days, but the team from the Spanish capital ruled out a return of its former star, who will now try to give his last glimpses in a country Far from the football spotlight such as Saudi Arabia, which thanks to its presence will surely attract the attention of numerous fans, eager to know how their idol is doing in this new adventure.

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