Reports coming out of Spain are claiming that Cristiano Ronaldo will officially join Saudi Arabian side Al-Nassr on January 1 after his exit from Man Utd.
Ronaldo has been without a club since he left Manchester United last month.
The 37-year-old exited United after he hit out at Erik ten Hag, Ralf Rangnick and the Glazer family during an interview with Piers Morgan.
The forward was initially unhappy after United failed to qualify for the Champions League and he missed most of pre-season for personal reasons.
This left him playing catch-up with the rest of United’s squad and he spent most of the first few months of the 2022/23 campaign in and out of the team.
Ronaldo wanted to leave in the summer but this was blocked by Man Utd at the time. They changed their tune after the Morgan interview left them with no choice but to part ways.
The veteran flattered to deceive at the World Cup and he is now set to sign for Al-Nassr.
The Middle East side are reportedly willing to offer him around £173m a year. He would have a couple of years as a player and he would eventually become an ambassador to help with Saudi Arabia’s 2030 World Cup bid.
Spanish outlet Marca are reporting that Al-Nassr will ‘make everything official on January 1’ when the winter transfer window opens.
The report suggests that PSG defender Sergio Ramos is their ‘next target’ and they are ‘working on trying to convince him’ to join them next summer.
Ramos’ first season at PSG in 2021/22 was impacted by injury but he has played consistently for the French giants this season.
The 36-year-old may take some convincing about a move to Saudi Arabia as Marca claim that ‘in his head, he wants to continue in the elite’. His contract is set to expire next summer.
A move for Ramos is on the back burner, at least for now. The report adds that Al-Nassr’s priority right now ‘is to get Cristiano Ronaldo to set foot in Riyadh’.
It is added that an individual who is ‘highly trusted’ by the ex-Man Utd star was in Saudi Arabia ‘days ago’ to ‘outline details of everything that the presence of Ronaldo in Saudi Arabia would mean’.
Christian Eriksen has admitted that Man Utd were “sad” to see Ronaldo leave last month.
“First of all we are sad that Ronaldo is not part of it, his legacy and his name at any club is special, for me to be fortunate to play with him in my career was very nice,” Eriksen said.
“The football goes on. You feel that the next game after, people will forget what it was like before and now our focus is really like he is not here.”
SOURCE: football365.com
