Cristiano Ronaldo has agreed a deal to join Saudi Arabia’s Al Nassr. The Saudi club announced its signing on Friday after the president and directors traveled to Madrid to seal the deal.
The two sides negotiated for 40 days and all they were waiting for was the final meeting with the owner of Al Nassr. Although Ronaldo denied everything during the Qatar 2022 World Cup, he was aware that his future was in Saudi Arabia.
At the time, Ronaldo didn’t want any distractions, but negotiations were progressing and the striker was aware of everything.
It all started when he gave an interview to journalist Piers Morgan that marked the end of his time as a Manchester United player.
From that moment on, the Portuguese star knew about Al Nassr’s offer, but he also realized that joining top-level European football was virtually impossible.
The offer and subsequent negotiations were carried out by Ricardo Regufe, a person very close to Ronaldo. Superagent Jorge Mendes had no involvement in his move to Saudi Arabia.
After Portugal’s exit from the World Cup, Ronaldo returned to Madrid and even asked for permission to train at Real Madrid’s training ground in Valdebebas.
Meanwhile, he waited for a call from Real Madrid that never came. The deal was reached after Al Nassr released several players, while deals with other footballers fell through and several trade deals were reached to make Ronaldo the highest paid player in the world.
