Cristiano Ronaldo has taken to social media to post a mysterious message, sparking fresh speculation over his club future.
The five-time Ballon d'Or winner parted ways with Manchester United in explosive fashion in November, with his position at the club deemed untenable after his bombshell interview with Piers Morgan saw Ronaldo air his unfiltered views on everyone from manager Erik ten Hag to the owners, whom he claimed did not care about football.
As a result, Ronaldo is now on the prowl searching for a new club and his latest Instagram activity has sent the rumour mill into overdrive. The 37-year-old uploaded a message to his story that read: "3 aspects of reality - pain, uncertainty and constant work."
The forward's ability to constantly work is well-documented, while the pain he is referring to could be in response to Portugal's recent elimination from the World Cup. Fernando Santos' side were on the wrong end of a surprise 1-0 scoreline against Morocco with a place in the last four of the tournament up for grabs.
It marked the end of Ronaldo's dream to lift the World Cup, with the next edition of the competition not until 2026 - by which time the former United ace will be 41 years of age.
He is already being slowly phased out of the national team fold, as shown by the fact he only started three of Portugal's five fixtures out in Qatar.
Ronaldo failed to control his emotions come the full-time whistle against Morocco and was filmed leaving the pitch in floods of tears, continuing to cry all the way down the tunnel as the reality of his World Cup hopes coming to an end hit the ex-Real Madrid star.
In the aftermath of the defeat, Ronaldo took to Instagram again, writing: "Winning a World Cup for Portugal was the biggest and most ambitious dream of my career.
"Fortunately I won many titles of international dimension, including Portugal, but putting our country's name on the highest foot in the World was my biggest dream.
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"I fought for it. I fought hard for this dream. In the 5 appearances I scored in World Cups over 16 years, always by the side of great players and supported by millions of Portuguese, I gave my all. Leave it all out on the field. I never turned my face to the fight and I never gave up on that dream.
"Sadly yesterday the dream ended. It's not worth reacting to heat. I just want you all to know that much has been said, much has been written, much has been speculated, but my dedication to Portugal has not changed not for a moment. I was always one fighting for the objective of all and I would never turn my back on my colleagues and my country.
"Not much more to say for now. Thank you Portugal. Thank you Qatar The dream was nice while it lasted... Now, it's hoping that the weather will be good advisor and allow each one to draw their own conclusions."
The last sentence of Ronaldo's statement has sparked discussion over whether Saudi outfit Al Nassr is his most likely next destination at club level, which would of course end the forward's love affair with the Champions League.
Ronaldo's rumoured wages out in the Middle East are astonishing, with the striker expected to pocket around £200million per-year should he put pen to paper on a deal with Al Nassr.
