Former Manchester United player Cristiano Ronaldo is set to sign soon a $207 million-a-year contract to join Saudi Arabia’s Al-Nassr football club, according to Saudi Gazette citing Spanish newspaper Marca.
Read more: Ronaldo close to putting pen to paper on a deal to join Saudi’s Al-Nassr
By joining Al-Nassr by end of the year, the five-time Ballon d’Or winner will start playing from Jan. 1, 2023, helping put Saudi Arabia on the footballing map ahead of their ambitious bid to host the 2030 World Cup.
In order to make room for Ronaldo, the Saudi Arabian League’s leaders are considering releasing some other players, Argentine Pitty Martinez and UzbekJaloliddin Masharipov.
They might not be the only ones to leave, as the club would like to make as much room as possible, considering they could sign another player in addition to Ronaldo.
According to media
, the Portuguese star footballer arrived in Riyadh from the UAE in order to negotiate with Al-Nasr Club.
In November, CBS Sports reported that the Saudi football club was ready to offer Ronaldo, who made history by becoming the first player to score in five World Cups in Portugal’s match against Ghana last week, a three-year contract after the global tournament, but no public confirmation had been made.
Al-Nassr is one of the most successful clubs in Saudi Arabia, having won the country’s top flight nine times, the most recent victory coming in 2019.
It won the Saudi Super Cup in 2020 and 2021 and is currently managed by Frenchman Rudi Garcia, who has previously coached Roma, Marseille, and Lyon.
