Fully focused on the World Cup, but focused on the future. Cristiano Ronaldo’s next destination could be Al Nassr, from Saudi Arabia, where the Portuguese striker has a contract valid for two and a half seasons in exchange for a millionaire’s salary: around 200 million euros/season, i.e. a transfer that the Portuguese star € 500 million in total. The news was reported yesterday by the newspaper Marca, which guarantees that things are on the right track.
Without a club, after separating from Manchester United, and at the age of 37, CR7 seems ready to trade European competitiveness for a club with projection for the economic aspect, as one of the biggest contracts ever signed in the history of the football is at stake. .
It should be noted that the 200 million euros for each season already includes salaries and advertising deals. To give you an idea, the contract CR7 signed with Manchester United was worth around 40 million euros per season. If he accepts the Arab proposal, CR7 would still own the image rights he holds individually, the business of the CR7 brand, and the contract with Nike.
Currently, the highest-paid player in world football is Kylian Mbappé, who, after extending his contract with PSG in May, now earns around €80 million a year excluding taxes, an amount that does not include advertising deals.
The contract the Saudis are offering CR7 is on the same level as Messi had with Barcelona, and led to the demise of the club’s accounts, in a process that led to his departure for PSG. In 2017, the Argentinian extended with the Catalans until 2021 in exchange for 555 million euros, an amount that, in addition to salaries, included a signature bonus, loyalty, as revealed by the newspaper El Mundo at the time.
According to Marca, Ronaldo’s decision is due to the economic issue and the fact that he has not received any proposals from top European clubs with a seat in the Champions League. In addition, no European team would have financial conditions (neither near nor far) to approach the values of the Saudi emblem. The same happened with the North American teams, where David Beckham never hid his desire to have CR7 and Messi together in his Inter Miami.
Recently, Abdulaziz bin Turki Al-Faisal, Saudi prince and sports minister, made no secret of his desire to see the Portuguese in that Middle Eastern country. “Who wouldn’t want to see him play in their league? He is an example to many young players, including Messi. I would like to see them both play in the Saudi league. The arrival of top players in the Saudi league will strengthen our programs.” and reinforce our message that our competition is strong,” he told Sky News.
Despite a proposal of this magnitude that moves everyone, the Portuguese captain remains fully focused on the World Cup. Yesterday he performed a specific recovery training in the gym, not cooperating with the rest of his colleagues in the gym. But his presence tomorrow against South Korea (15.00, SIC) is not in question.
Rivalry and eccentric owner
Football in Saudi Arabia is in a growth phase, as evidenced by the number of named and curriculum-qualified athletes who have accepted to play there in recent years. But Ronaldo would be the greatest signing ever, a player capable of a new media boost.
Headquartered in the city of Riyadh, Al Nassr is currently coached by Frenchman Rudi Garia (he has coached clubs such as Lille, AS Roma, Marseille and Lyon) and has players such as Colombian goalkeeper Ospina, former international Luiz Gustavo, Talisca, formerly from Benfica, and the Cameroonian striker Aboubakar, a former FC Porto player.
Finished second last season, currently, and after just eight rounds of the championship, they are in second place, three points behind leader Al-Shabab. Last season the Portuguese Rui Vitória was coached, who was eventually fired due to poor results. And earlier, in 2021, it was also accompanied by Pedro Emanuel, which lasted just over a month.
Al Nassr is the second Saudi club with the most championship titles, with a total of nine (the last in 2019), behind Al Hilal, who have lifted the trophy 17 times. It is precisely this domain that those in charge of Al Nassr want to end with the signing of CR7.
The rivalry between Al Hilal and Al Nassr is such that in 2014, in the AFC Champions League final against Western Sydney Wanderers, fans would wait at the airport for the Australians to encourage them to beat the rival from the same city.
The club’s owners, a Saudi investment fund headed by Mohammad Bin Salman, the country’s crown prince, also own Newcastle, in the Premier League, a club that, curiously enough, was also recently named Ronaldo’s member.
Salman is also Deputy Prime Minister and Defense Minister of Saudi Arabia, known for his millionaire eccentricities – in 2015 he bought Louis XIV Castle, the most expensive private property in the world, near Paris, for 275 million euros, and gave 390 million for a Da Vinci painting.
But he is also accused of multiple human rights violations, such as in 2018, when he was involved in the murder of journalist Jamal Khashoggi, who died at the Saudi Arabian Embassy in Istanbul, and who was a critic of the policies of the Arab Royal family.
Source: DN
