Cristiano Ronaldo: What to know about his new club Al-Nassr

The end of a career. This is how most of the world interpreted Cristiano Ronaldo’s departure to Saudi Arabia since it is believed that he will wait for retirement in the desert League. Although he might have other plans, the signing of the Portuguese for Al Nassr was seen as a decline in the reputation of one of the best players on the planet.

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Many other elite players have experienced a decline in their performance, so the transfer of a 37-year-old veteran to a team in the Arab world may not be seen as a negative move. This is especially true when considering that many other great players have also played for teams in non-traditional soccer destinations.

Even the King of football, Pele, who passed away last week, defied all logic, left his home country, and signed for Cosmos. It was 1975 when soccer in the United States was nowhere near as popular as it had been in the past two decades.

The man who changed football and laid the foundations of modern Barcelona, playing and coaching, played in the Second League for part of his career. Inconceivable for today’s understanding of sports, however, Johan Cruyff wore the Levante jersey at the age of 34. It was after two seasons spent in America.

Xavi Hernandez also retired in Doha, to later become the coach of Al Sadd, Alexandro Del Piero settled down in Sydney, Australia, Steven Gerrard put an end to the Los Angeles Galaxy, Rivaldo said goodbye to football after his adventures in Uzbekistan and Angola, he retired in Mogi Mirim from his native Brazil.

Al Nassr is not even the most successful club in Saudi Arabia. They have won nine Premier League titles, six King’s Cup trophies, three Crown Prince’s Cup trophies, the Federation Cup three times, and the Saudi Super Cup twice. In 1997/98 this team won Asian Cup Winners’ Cup and the Asian Super Cup, the best international success yet. They never won the Champions League of the biggest continent on the planet, but he did what no one outside of Europe could do. They signed Cristiano Ronaldo and the question is when and if any other Asian club will manage to use their millions to attract a bigger footballer to play football in the desert.

The contract was signed for two years, and Ronaldo will earn less money than was initially announced. The Portuguese will not collect 100.000.000 euros per year, but a total of 175.000.000 euros. Tangibly less, but still, the contract is fantastic, unprecedented in the world of football.

Ronaldo will be the first star of Al-Nassr coached by Rudi Garcia, the former manager of Roma, Lille, and Lyon, and one of his teammates will be the Cameroonian representative Vincent Abubakar. Ronaldo will have a special role in Al Nassr and Arab football, as he will also be the face of the candidacy for organizing the World Cup, which will be submitted by Saudi Arabia for 2030. Going to the Middle East ended the European part of Ronaldo’s career, during which he played for Sporting, Manchester United, Real Madrid, Juventus, and then Manchester United again.

As for the Portuguese national team, he said that he will stay to play at the 2024 European Championship in Germany.

Cristiano Ronaldo’s reception with Al Nassr FC