Al-Nassr boss Rudi Garcia has underlined that he considers it to be an “honour” to manage Cristiano Ronaldo after the Portuguese superstar was unveiled by the Saudi Arabian club.
Ronaldo completed a stunning move to the Saudi Arabia club on Friday and is expected to earn in the region of £173million per year. The deal comes after Ronaldo ended his relationship with Manchester United by mutual consent in November following a bombshell interview with Piers Morgan.
With no other offers on the table, Ronaldo made the switch to the Middle East club and is now set to link up with his new teammates. His first meeting with new boss Garcia may have proven somewhat awkward after the coach suggested he wanted the club to sign Messi – as Al-Nassr’s city rivals Al-Hilal began selling shirts with the Argentine star’s name.
Garcia was present alongside Ronaldo at Tuesday’s unveiling press conference and was insistent only on praising his new star’s attributes and what the veteran forward would be able to add to the Riyadh club’s potential this campaign.
“Normally after the game there is three or four journalists. Please, everyone is welcome to come after every game to speak about Cristiano’s goal,” Garcia joked during the press conference, before going on to praise his new arrival.
“It’s an honour for me but also for Al-Nassr to welcome Cristiano. He is an example, everyone knows that. My objective for Cristiano is make him happy and I want him to enjoy playing with Al-Nassr and winning with Al-Nassr.”
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Garcia also downplayed suggestions that he may find Ronaldo difficult to manage, after the star endured a difficult relationship with Manchester United boss Erik ten Hag. “In my life, the great players like Cristiano are simple to manage because there is nothing I can teach Cristiano. Like he said, we are here to win,” added Garcia.
“We will have time to speak, but the most important thing is that he is here. We need to train and we need to win.”
Ronaldo has been criticised in some quarters for choosing to end his career in Saudi Arabia. Former Liverpool star Jamie Carragher compared him negatively with Messi, following the Argentine's World Cup win.
"In some ways it's a sad end for him," Carragher told Sky Sports. "Two of the greatest players in Messi and Ronaldo - Ronaldo has finished his career doing an interview with Piers Morgan and Messi has won the World Cup. It's not the best way to go out."
