Money cannot always buy everything. And Cristiano Ronaldo ranks as an example as he remains clubless after his globally reported slap from English club Manchester United.
It’s reliably learnt that the Portuguese star striker has said no to Al Nassr, unwilling to accept the rather astonishing two-hundred-million-euro-a-season offer proposed to him by the Saudi Arabian club.
CHAMPIONS LEAGUE
According to the English media, the five-time Ballon d’Or football award winner wants to stay in Europe, in particular at a club that plays the Champions League.
Former award-winning Singapore coach Jita Singh, now in Qatar for the matches, said: “I believe Ronaldo still wants to measure himself in world-class football that counts and therefore will likely say no, not only to the Arabs.”
He may also turn his back on the offer coming from the United States from David Beckham’s Inter Miami.And there are whispers of a possible return to Sporting, while the European big names remain very cold toward him at the moment.
Jita added: “He is in demand for sure, but joining the right big-name club matters to him more than money. He’s definitely the most-talked-about player despite his unpredictable temperament.”
* Suresh Nair is an award-winning sports journalist who is also a qualified international coach and international referee instructor.
One thing is very good with Cristiano Ronaldo and it is the fact that his name keeps trending on social media and in sports news sections online or in print.
While most of the news about Ronaldo is fake, he said it himself, the Saudi Arabian Football Federation president Yasser Al-Misehal is bent on having the soccer star in Arabia.
The Manchester United legend seems to be so popular with the SAAF that its chief says it is not surprising that one day Ronaldo will be fielded in a club in Saudi Arabia for example.
According to multiple rumours, Ronaldo wanted to leave Manchester United in the summer break but no clubs were interested or could afford to hire his services.
The story goes that with the transfer window narrowing in August, Ronaldo was offered a chance to play in the Saudi league. He however, according to legends in the media, turned down the offer of millions of US dollars to stick to his team at Manchester.
An unnamed club in the Saudi league, it is said, offered him £2 million per week, while another offered him £211 million per year.
However, in a recent interview with The Athletic, Al-Misehal did not rule out the possibility of Ronaldo playing in the Saudi league one day.
“We would love to see a player like Cristiano Ronaldo playing in the Saudi league, it would bring a huge positive feedback and it would be big news for everyone.
“I think, ‘Why not?’, I’m sure it would be a very expensive deal, of course, but we can see our clubs getting higher revenues in the past couple of years.
“I like Cristiano Ronaldo as a player and I would like to see him play in Saudi Arabia,” Al-Misehal said.
Well, there is a transfer window that opens in January next year and if Ronaldo is not happy at Man Utd, he could still make a move.
But there are other rumours Ronaldo wants to play in the Champions League, instead of the Saudi Arabian league.
If Cristiano Ronaldo wants out of Saudi club Al-Nassr, he will have to compensate for remaining two years on his deal: Reports
It has only been five months since Cristiano Ronaldo’s debut in Al Nassr, but he has already decided that his Middle Eastern adventure is over and he wants to go. Ronaldo, 38, has reportedly become aware of the obvious contrasts between the infrastructure of the Saudi club and that in Europe, according to Mundo Deportivo. The Portuguese icon’s entourage has begun to publicly express the man’s wish to go back to Europe and look for suitors.
Cristiano Ronaldo’s Blockbuster Move to Al Nassr
In January, Cristiano Ronaldo signed a two-year contract with Al Nassr worth reportedly €200 million annually after joining the club as a free agent. At Mr. Sool Park, he has made an impression, participating in 17 games across tournaments and contributing two assists in addition to 13 goals scored.
The storied striker’s team has had difficulties, though. Three points behind Al Ittihad, who currently lead the Saudi Pro League, Al-Alami is in second place. Early in April, following a succession of disappointing outcomes, manager Rudi Garcia was fired. Additionally, Cristiano Ronaldo will be punished with a four-month ban on his ability to participate in any official match. The way he left his previous club, Manchester United, was through a consensual contract termination, which is how this is different.
Ronaldo’s Bold Statement: Europe Conquered, Al Nassr Awaits
In joining Al Nassr, Cristiano Ronaldo claimed that he had accomplished everything that could be accomplished in Europe. During his welcome speech at Mrsool Park, the legendary Portuguese speaker said: “I’m so proud to make this big decision in my life, in football. As you mentioned before, in Europe my work, it’s done. I won everything”, an article on Sportskeeda.com reported. The five-time Ballon d’Or winner was undoubtedly telling the truth. Five times while living in Europe, Ronaldo won the UEFA Champions League. With Manchester United in England, Real Madrid in Spain, and Juventus in Italy, he also won league championships.
The legendary forward’s spellbinding exploits continue to turn the clock back, but in the final few months of his time at Old Trafford, they came to an end. His second stint with the Red Devils is now viewed as a misstep on the part of both parties.
Cristiano Ronaldo is not leaving Manchester United
The transfer period this year has ended, and teams with their current players will have to make do with what they have. Rumours were rife Cristiano Ronaldo has been demanding to leave Manchester United for quite a while now but he is definitely staying with them at least till the next transfer period.
According to some British media, the Portuguese superstar had intentions to leave Old Trafford in order to represent a team in the Champions League. Unsatisfied that his team will be playing in the Europa League instead of the Champions, this is due to United scoring their lowest ever point in 30 years.
The news reports say Ronaldo has expressed his desire to leave Manchester United especially after the numerous defeats they had received. But in reality, the superstar never said he is leaving Man Utd.But Erik ten Hag has benched him in the past two games in the Premier League.
He returned to United from his previous club Juventus last year. His early days were spent in United and that was decades ago. He scored 24 goals across all games and his two previous managers were having difficulties handling the club, some blamed Ronaldo for United’s poor performances.
The same reports wanted Jorge Mendes, Ronaldo’s current agent, to have tried to arrange multiple transfers for him, but unfortunately the transfer period has ended. Now with the recent cash injection towards the club, they feel that maybe he might just stay in the club.
Ronaldo came to the club again during Rag Rangnick’s tenure and he left in the middle of this year and was subsequently replaced by the Dutchman. Some speculated whether Ronaldo will be an important player in the team and others have accused him of losing the necessary qualities in order to play within his new manager’s rules.
Just a few weeks back, an unnamed Saudi Arabian club wanted to purchase Ronaldo’s services for £211 million. The fee was to be settled within two years, which would equate to £2 million a week. Unfortunately for him, his wish did not come true and he will have to fight among his teammates if he wants to be on the field.
Now, with all that has happened, Ronaldo will be expected to stay put with United and play another half of a season of the Europa League, to the least. The staff at United’s training facility stated that he has improved his mindset for the better. It was also alleged that he accepted the fact that he has to remain with them.
Just a few days ago, Manchester United had purchased Antony from Ajax and the total paid was £85.5 million. Thus far, the club has acquired five new players including two from Ajax and it is hopeful that they would maintain a good streak in the Premier League to bring back their good name.
Who cares what Ten Hag says on Ronaldo’s Saudi Arabian move?
Manchester United defeated the Wolves last Saturday and their manager, and Erik ten Hag refused to comment on Cristiano Ronaldo’s move to Saudi Arabia, but really who cares what he has to say? It appears that their feud is still ongoing which is no surprise.
On Friday, Ronaldo completed his transfer to Saudi Arabia’s Al-Nassr and signed a contract with the team through 2025. His enormous contract, which is reportedly worth £173 million a year, comes one month after his United contract was mutually ended as a result of a controversial interview with Piers Morgan.
With Marcus Rashford scoring for the third game in a row since the World Cup to defeat Wolves 1-0, United has not yet missed the Portuguese superstar. Ten Hag punished Rashford for some late arrivals but had to bow down and field the scorer to win the match.
After Ronaldo claimed he felt “betrayed” by the club, Ten Hag was eager to get rid of the player, and he is now eager to put the incident behind him.
Ten Hag stated, “I don’t talk about the past, let’s talk about the future.”
He then added, “First time we are in the top four, but it means nothing because it is a long way to go. We have to live from game to game, get in the position to win something.”
With regards to Manchester United’s current win, we will have to wait and see how they will compete against the ever growing Reds in the Premier League. Furthermore, with the transfer period just beginning in January, it will give a chance to all the Premier League teams to beef up their player rotation.
Fan reaction to Ronaldo’s Al-Nassr move
Cristiano Ronaldo's reported contract at Al-Nassr will see him earn $548k a day 😳💰 pic.twitter.com/AFBVFP7Uel
Netizens are rumourmongering that Ronaldo will be paid $500,000 a day with Al-Nassr. It is a pretty penny for a days work. The cost breakdown shows that he will earn $6.00 per second. It seems to be that Ronaldo has woken up in a better place after leaving his old club.
Fans that disagree with his move to Al-Nassr posted screenshots of him making statements that he would rather retire in “dignity” instead of playing with USA, and Arab clubs. The statement appears to be true, as the Guardian published a whole article about it in 2015.
Those that are unhappy with him earning that amount of money stated that he doesn’t need more. These people then claimed that the Middle Easterners are “human rights abusers” and that he should not be playing for a club like that.
More comparisons were made between Ronaldo and Messi. Messi fans stated that Ronaldo has lost the battle ground to be our generation’s greatest of all time. Comments that describe their surprise that Ronaldo is joining an Arab team are also quite apparent.
Positive remarks about him taking over the Middle East are also quite a popular opinion. He is still an amazing player regardless of all the unfortunate incidents that laid upon him in 2022. Statements of him ending his European career for joining Al-Nassr were made.
The famous household name footballer Cristiano Ronaldo’s return to Manchester United may be coming to an end soon as there are interesting offers coming up for the Portuguese player. It shows how well desired he is, even at the age of 37 he is still able to get multi million dollar offers.
He made it clear that he wanted to leave Manchester United this year, unfortunately for him, he did not receive as many offers as he thought he’d expect from European clubs. Chelsea, Bayern Munich, Paris Saint-Germain all turned down their chance to have a great player like him in their team.
Initially, he rejected an offer from a Saudi team, according to reports. If he chose to join that said club, he would stand the chance to earn £2 million per week. There was another offer that could’ve made him earn £211 million per year. As it is, he has earned more than $1 billion in his lifetime back in 2020.
Unfortunately for the Portuguese striker, now Manchester United has enacted a pay cut for their players after not making the cut for the Champions League. He initially agreed for a £480,000-per-week contract with the club, and his yearly earnings would total up to £25 million.
After Manchester United finished in the sixth-place it prevented them from entering the Champion League and instead they ended up in the Europa League. Unfortunately for them all and adding salt to the wound, all players were required to take a 25% pay cut which allegedly left Ronaldo ‘upset’.
It is understandable if he is actually upset as this will affect his future earnings and his current net worth may drop because of it. His salary is now £360,000 per week thus making him no longer the highest paid player in the Premier League. This happened for the 2022 and 2023 season, and the only way for Ronaldo to regain his value is either for Manchester United to step up as they did recently, or join another club that is willing to pay more.
He still earns a handsome amount of money outside of football. It is noted that he earned $115 million last year in endorsements and sponsorships. These outside of football work accounts to about 40% of his income.
