Amidst a poor 2022 after a series of unpleasant events, including the death of his son during childbirth, starting games on the bench for club and country, an ugly second exit from Manchester United and failing to win the FIFA World Cup in his last trial, Cristiano Ronaldo has started the New Year of 2023 with a bang: Sealing a move away from Europe to Asia, to the current league leader of the Saudi Pro League, Al-Nassr. The deal, as reported, will let the five-time Ballon d’Or winner to earn a whooping €200m including commercial deals, which happens to be the most expensive contract ever in the history of football.
His signing for the Arabian club has soon attracted millions of attention, with countless fans grabbing chances to catch a glimpse of the Portuguese sensation right from touch down and queueing up for tickets to witness his unveiling for his new club. Just yesterday, the 37-year-old forward was unveiled before 20,000 fans at the home stadium of Al-Nassr at Mrsool Park in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia.
Biggest Name to Play in Asia
Al-Nassr has players like former Bayern Munich midfielder Luiz Gustavo and ex-Arsenal goalkeeper David Ospina in its team, but none of these players can match Ronaldo’s stardom in football in any terms. Despite having his ratings dropped to 88 in the latest EA Sports FIFA game series, CR7 remains the biggest name to play in any leagues in Asia. And his new club has already felt the Ronaldo effect, after Al-Nassr gained a significant eight millions followers on Instagram just days after they announced the signing of the Portugal captain; The social media page only had approximately 800k followers previously.
During the conference after the unveiling, Ronaldo stated that, “I’m so proud to make this big decision in my life. In Europe, my work is done. I won everything and played for the most important clubs in Europe. This is a new challenge. Nobody knows this, but I had many opportunities in Europe, Brazil, Australia, America, Portugal; many clubs tried to sign me. I gave my word to this club. I want to give a different vision of this country and football. This is why I took this opportunity.”
Although many had criticised the four-time European Golden Shoe winner over his move to the 9-time Saudi Professional League champion, Ronaldo had iterated that it is normal to be hated since he is a unique player, and he has signed for Al-Nassr to win more accolades for the club and himself.
Click here to watch Cristiano Ronaldo’s Al-Nassr and Saudi Pro League matches live.
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The Details of Ronaldo’s Contract with Al-Nassr
Including commercial deals, the 37-year-old Funchal-born megastar will earn an astonishing €200m in his new club, which are equivalent to €16.7m per month, €548k per day, €23k per hour, €380 per minute and €6 per second, surpassing Kylian Mbappé as the highest earner in the sports. The 24-year-old Paris-born forward currently earns about €72m annually over his new contract with Paris Saint-Germain and he is still the top earner among all players playing in European football leagues.
Al-Nassr will play against Al-Ta’ee at home tomorrow and go on a break until 15th January 2023 while Cristiano Ronaldo has already trained with the team after the unveiling ceremony. But are we set to witness his debut just days after his unveiling?
Ronaldo’s old club, Manchester United is on a six-game winning streak in all competitions, here are its match details against A. F. C. Bournemouth: https://www.otherleague.com/football/manchester-united-made-it-six-consecutive-wins-in-all-competitions-climbed-up-to-fourth-in-the-premier-league/
