Al-Nassr has gathered massive social media following, surpassing a number of top European clubs after Cristiano Ronaldo joined the club as a free agent.
Cristiano Ronaldo made a controversial move to the Saudi club as a free agent after he terminated his Manchester United contract.
The Portugal international fell out with the Red Devils, granted an explosive interview undermining the club, and then agreeing to a mutual contract termination following the row.
The row happened on the eve of the World Cup, and he readily exited the team and join his Portugal teammates in the 2022 World Cup.
After the World Cup, Ronaldo trained at Real Madrid training facility and was heavily linked with Al-Nassr even when he was at Qatar for the 2022 World Cup.
While he remain mute on the progress of talks with the Saudi club, it was pretty clear he is heading to the Middle East after European clubs failed to make an offer for him.
He was intent on playing Champions League football, but had to settle with the offer from Al Nassr after no European club indicated interest in signing him.
Cristiano Ronaldo finally signed a two-and-a-half year contract with Al-Nassr. The deal has been regarded as the biggest deal in football history.
He is set to earn a whooping £173million every year with the club until 2025.
While most pundits have declared the end of the Ronaldo era in European football after he joined Al-Nassr, it appears the football superstar is far from the troughs and will still remain in the spotlights after joining the Saudi league.
Al-Nassr has recorded a sparkling upsurge in social media after announcing the signing of Cristiano Ronaldo. Their social media following tripled from just 860k to 2.7million in just a matter of hours after Cristiano Ronaldo joined the club.
As at the time of filing this report Al-Nassr social media following on Instagram has hit a record 9.6million after they signed Cristiano Ronaldo.
The spurts of growth is expected to continue in the coming days as Cristiano Ronaldo braces for a new challenge in his football career.
The spike in social media following for Al-Nassr means the club has now overtaken big European clubs on the social media space.
Some of the top clubs that has been eclipsed by Al-Nassr due to the Ronaldo effect includes Inter Milan (8.8mlion), Fenerbahce (8.4million), Ajax (8million), Leicester (7million), Napoli (3million), and many others.
Cristiano Ronaldo would have made his Al-Nassr debut but he is serving his two-match ban by the English FA after he smacked down the phone of Jacob Harding, a young Everton fan, after a Premier League game in 2021.
Ronaldo’s hope of playing in UEFA Champions League is still intact. There is reportedly a clause in his Al-Nassr contract that will allow him to join any Champions League club on loan if there is an offer for him.
