Although the rumors started brewing during the World Cup in Qatar, many were stunned by the official confirmation that Cristiano Ronaldo accepted the offer from Saudi side Al Nassr. It’s clearly a megalomaniac sum – the Portuguese will reportedly earn €175,000,000 over two years – but as one of modern football’s biggest stars and all-time top goalscorer, it’s not like Ronaldo was in any financial trouble.Moreover, the Portuguese himself said that he does not see himself in rich clubs from leagues far from Europe’s top level. It was in 2015, and just a month ago he repeated it in what will turn out to be a farewell interview with Piers Morgan, in which, with some other statements, he initiated the process of terminating cooperation with Manchester United.Although he said that he was not interested in an engagement away from the spotlight of the Champions League, the reality turned out to be different. He accepted an invitation from Saudi Arabia, while the closest competitor was the US side Sporting Kansas City.##NAJAVA_MECA_6916685##True, his agent Jorge Mendes tried to get his countryman to join a famous European club first, then he invited smaller trophy teams across the continent, but he failed. It may be that Ronaldo’s demands were too high for his age (37), as well as the performances he has been providing on the field lately. It is clear that the end of a great career is near, however, few expected that the end would be somewhere in the desert, far from the main stage.”I still believe that I can score goals and help the national team, including Manchester United,” said the Portuguese in the aforementioned interview with English journalist Piers Morgan, who stirred up the public and announced his departure from Old Trafford.Seven years ago, he was even more explicit that he was not interested in a trip to the Middle East or the United States of America.”Would I play in the MLS or the United Arab Emirates? I still have six or seven years left and I want to finish my career at a high level, with dignity and at a big club. That doesn’t mean I think going to the USA, Qatar or Dubai is wrong, but I don’t see myself there,” said Cristiano Ronaldo on the Jonathan Ross Show.##EDITORS_CHOICE##He said one thing, he did another. It is neither the first nor the last, but this move will surely overshadow everything Cristiano Ronaldo has done so far in his career. It is not the end expected from a player of his quality and motivation.”It’s a sad ending, isn’t it? Ronaldo ended his career with an interview for Piers Morgan, while Messi won the World Cup,” Jamie Carragher said.Another former England representative, now a professional consultant, Gary Neville, is disappointed with the Portuguese ace’s move.”Obviously, we will see Cristiano less often now. He told us two things with this move: the first is that Saudi Arabia is seriously betting on football, as soon as they have invested so many millions on just one player. They are trying to strengthen their league… I feel that Cristiano wanted to stay at least until the end of the current season in one of the big European clubs and score more goals. He still wanted to play in the Champions League, but his choice also tells us that he got an incredible offer.” Neville believes.DONE DEAL! Cristiano Ronaldo signs a two-year deal with Al-Nassr”Maybe he wasn’t needed by the club he wanted to go to, so that’s why this was his choice. There’s certainly an element of sadness because we’ve probably seen the end of Ronaldo playing at a high level. I thought we might see more of him at Old Trafford, but the two sides didn’t deal with things the right way, and that was inevitable.”Anyway, we are waiting for the beginning of 2023, the first theoretically possible date is January 5, to see Ronaldo’s debut in Al-Nassr, after ten rounds to the second-placed team of the Saudi championship with two points less than the leading Al-Shabaab.🇸🇦✍️A breakdown of Cristiano Ronaldo’s two-year contract with Saudi Arabian club Al Nassr;💶€200M/year💶€16.67M/month💶€3.888M/week💶€555,555/day💶€23,150/hour💶€386/minute💶€6.5/second💰It’s the BIGGEST CONTRACT EVER in the history of football.#CR7𓃵|#AlNassr pic.twitter.com/Pf97jUXtoP— FIFA World Cup Stats (@alimo_philip) December 30, 2022
