Cristiano Ronaldo was presented as a new Al-Nassr player yesterday and instantly becomes the most iconic transfer in Saudi Arabian football history.
The Portuguese was a free agent after mutually terminating his deal at Manchester United in November. After finishing the World Cup in early December, the Portuguese train individually and eventually accepted an offer from Al-Nassr, which had been on the table since November. His contract is supposedly worth €0.5b. Although Ronaldo did not confirm the numbers outright, he did comment that a ‘special player deserves a special contract’.
He also claimed that he turned down offers from Europe in order to come to Al-Nassr. Since, there has also been a suggestion that Ronaldo has a release clause that can be activated by Newcastle United, should the Magpies make the Champions League.
However those claims are yet to be substantiated. In a climate where almost all deals are reported before they happen, there was no hint that one of the most famous players in the world had an offer from an European team.
Speaking to Caught Offside in their exclusive Substack column together, Fabrizio Romano also cast some doubt on Ronaldo’s claims.
“I’m aware of Sporting Kansas City, Al Hilal and Al Nassr proposals, but of course if he said that I guess there was something else!”
“No one close to Ronaldo wants to confirm the clause for European clubs or Newcastle, so at the moment there’s no confirmation.”
Ronaldo had previously claimed that he wanted to retire at the top level, just days before his deal at United was ended, but even the most fervent defenders of the Saudi Arabian Superleague cannot claim it to be that.
A clause with Newcastle would make some sense, due to the strong links between Saudi Arabia and the club from Tyneside.
