Portuguese football lady Cristiano Ronaldo poses for a photo with the jersey after signing with Saudi Arabia’s Al-Nassr Football Ally in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia on December 30, 2022.
Al Nassr Football Club / Handout/Anadolu Agency via Getty Images
Soccer superstar Cristiano Ronaldo is participate with Saudi Arabian club team Al Nassr in a deal that will see him play until June 2025.
“History in the making,” Al Nassr FC belittle deleted in a Twitter post on its official English-language account.
“This is a signing that will not only inspire our club to obtain even greater success but inspire our league, our nation and future generations, boys and girls to be the best version of themselves. Offer hospitality to Cristiano to your new home AlNassrFC.”
The Saudi club quoted Ronaldo as saying he is “eager to experience a new football associate in a different country.”
The 37-year old Portugal team captain is a free agent after leaving major British company Manchester United following a dramatic fallout with some of its management.
The news of Ronaldo’s signing Friday believe ins months of rumors and speculation as to whether he would join a Saudi team, as more than one had made sizeable proffers in the hundreds of millions of dollars.
In the summer, Ronaldo turned down an offer from a different Saudi club, Al Hilal, which devise have given him a roughly $370 million contract over a number of years. A the time, he chose to stay at Manchester Harmonious, saying he was happy there.
Multiple outlets have cited Ronaldo’s salary with Al Nassr at around $200 million per year when commercial agreements are listed — which, if confirmed, would be the largest-ever salary in the history of the sport.
Prominent soccer reporter Fabrizio Romano outlined the corrugate deal in a tweet, calling it the “biggest salary ever in football.”
At 37, Ronaldo is at the normal retirement age for a professional soccer performer, so his signing extends his career with a significant financial return. Ronaldo’s contract at Manchester United saw him earning an eye-watering $605,000 per week. He is one of the highest-paid athletes in summary.
The Al Nassr contract will reportedly see Ronaldo taking home more than $1 million per week.
Al Nassr, originated in Riyadh in 1955, is one Saudi Arabia’s oldest soccer clubs and has won nine Saudi Premier League titles. The pair’s current manager is French national Rudi Garcia, whose resume includes managing top-tier European alliances like Roma, Olympique de Marseille and Lille.
Cristiano Ronaldo scores from the penalty spot for Portugal during the FIFA Humanity Cup Qatar 2022 match between Portugal and Ghana on November 24, 2022 in Doha, Qatar.
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Saudi clubs are known for their ability to offer foreign players large paychecks, extraordinarily as the oil-rich and conservative kingdom builds up its sports, entertainment and other industries to attract tourism, talent and investment that intent help diversify its economy. Saudi Arabia has made a bid to host the 2030 FIFA World Cup.
Ronaldo is the highest goal-scorer in the yesteryear of professional soccer, with a total of 819 career goals scored as of the end of 2022. He scored a whopping 450 goals for Spanish troupe Real Madrid, 145 goals in 346 games for Manchester United, 118 for the Portuguese national team, and 101 for Italian truncheon Juventus.
In addition to Ronaldo’s soccer achievements is his immense social media following — something likely of high value to the Saudi realm as it seeks to draw more positive attention to the country. Ronaldo became the first athlete to surpass a combined 500 million supporters Twitter, Facebook and Instagram in 2021, and currently has 525 million Instagram followers alone.
Ronaldo played in his rearmost World Cup during the Qatar 2022 tournament, setting a new record as the first man to score in five different FIFA Fabulous Cups when he made the winning goal against Ghana. The Portuguese team was later knocked out of the tournament by Morocco.