It was perfect late on Friday evening German time: Cristiano Ronaldo (37) moves to Al-Nassr FC in Saudi Arabia, collecting almost 200 million euros a year.
The Portuguese superstar has signed for two and a half years. All in all, that’s half a billion euros!
Financially, the deal is absolutely crazy, but what awaits the 2016 European champions, who left Manchester United in a dispute after their explosive interview, beyond the coal in Saudi Arabia?
The fact is: Ronaldo is moving to an absolute mega-city. Al-Nassr is based in the Saudi Arabian capital Riyadh, where more than 6.5 million people live. In the province of the same name, there are even more than seven million.
As far as the stadium is concerned, however, the superstar has to get used to it. While Ronaldo was used to large, atmospheric arenas such as Real Madrid’s Estadio Santiago Bernabéu or Old Trafford (Manchester United), in future he will play in the comparatively less sonorous Msool Park, named after a delivery company. Capacity: 25,000 spectators.
Founded in 1955, Al-Nassr is a relatively young club compared to traditional European clubs, but is older than, for example, Paris Saint-Germain (founded in 1970). Al-Nassr is the second-best club in Saudi Arabia after record champions Al-Hilal (18 titles) with nine championship wins. Most recently, they won the 16-team “Saudi Professional League” in 2019.
In this stadium Ronaldo goes in search of goals
At his new club, Ronaldo meets some colleagues with European experience. Since July of this year, the coach has been Frenchman Rudi Garcia (58), who previously played on the sidelines at Olympique Lyon, Olympique Marseille, AS Roma and OSC Lille, among others.
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The biggest star in the team so far has been Talisca (28/market value 14 million euros). The Brazilian midfielder played for Benfica and Besiktas in Europe. His compatriot Luiz Gustavo (35) even has a former Bundesliga star (Hoffenheim, FC Bayern, Wolfsburg) on board. Keeper David Ospina (34, including Arsenal and Napoli) and Vincent Aboubakar (30, including FC Porto and Besiktas) also have European experience.
It remains to be seen whether it will be a great sporting challenge for Ronaldo. Compared to the top European leagues, the level in the Saudi league is very modest.
After all: If things go well at Al-Nassr, the Portuguese can also play in the Champions League in the future, albeit the Asian version. The top three teams in the league qualify for the AFC Champions League. Things are looking up for Al-Nassr at the moment, after eight games the club is second behind leaders Al-Shabab.
Al-Nassr’s first game of the new year will be against Al-Tai on January 5th.
It is not yet clear whether Ronaldo will be there.
