Cristiano Ronaldo and his family have arrived in Saudi Arabia to join his new club Al-Nassr after signing a two-and-a-half year contract with the Saudi giant.
The Portuguese star joins Al-Nassr as a free agent after Manchester United terminated his two-year contract following his bombshell interview with Piers Morgan.
Ronaldo’s United contract was terminated on November 22 following the bizarre tell-all interview with Piers Morgan in which he criticised the club, including Erik Ten Hag
Then, Erik Ten Hag maintained that Cristiano Ronaldo was part of his plans, and he was willing to work with the former Juventus star to rebuild the old Trafford club when he was appointed as new manager of the club.
However, Ten Hag ended on rough and difficult lanes with Cristiano Ronaldo and did not start the player in most Man United matches.
Ronaldo cut a frustrated figure in the Man United bench, and occasionally let out his frustrations in bust-ups and clashed with the former Ajax manager both on-pitch and off-pitch.
He finally vented his spleen and frustration in a tell all interview which he blasted the poor state of the club due to mismanagement by the owners.
Erik Ten Hag was also an object of Ronaldo’s fury as he criticised the dutch tactician for disrespecting him, by failing to start him in matches.
After his contract termination, Ronaldo joined Portugal national team for the 2022 World Cup where he crashed out in the quarterfinals.
He trained at the Real Madrid training facility after the World Cup and was heavily linked with a move to Al-Nassr with no European clubs making an offer for him.
On December 31, 2022 Al-Nassr announced the signing of Cristiano Ronaldo. And then the seven times Ballon d’Or winner was seen posing with the club’s jersey.
Cristiano Ronaldo joined Al-Nassr in one of the biggest football deals ever. His move has been mired in controversies, with some pundits proclaiming the end of his glittering football career.
Cristiano Ronaldo will be a big selling point for Al-Nassr and the entire Saudi Arabian league. Few hours after the club announced his signing, their social media following tripled from 860k followers to over 2.7million.
He will reportedly earn a whooping £173million yearly throughout his two-and-a-half stay at the club, but will fell off the spotlights, playing in a league with no TV rights to air live matches to a teeming audience.
However, some pundits have argued Cristiano Ronaldo’s move to Al-Nassr will skew the global football balance off Europe, and help draw global attention to football in the Middle East.
While the debate on the Ronaldo effect has raged on, the Portuguese icon has been filmed arriving in style to his new club with his family.
Cristiano Ronaldo has just landed in Riyadh ahead of his move to Al Nassr 🟡🛬 #Ronaldo
— Fabrizio Romano (@FabrizioRomano) January 2, 2023
Second part of medical will be done on Tuesday, then he will be unveiled as new signing.
🎥 @ariyadhiah_br pic.twitter.com/a4vPUbaHFP
The Portuguese legend winked and smiled to his teeming fans as he flew down to Saudi Arabia for a new threshold in his football career.
There are reports he may likely feature for the club in their league game on January 5, 2022. He will be unveiled later today, January 3.
