Gary Neville has been left surprised by Cristiano Ronaldo's decision to join Saudi Arabian outfit Al Nassr - and he admitted that he is 'sad' that the Portuguese superstar will not spend the twilight years of his illustrious career at the top level.
Ronaldo, 37, was a free agent after agreeing to tear up the final six months of his lucrative Manchester United contract during the World Cup and had been heavily linked with a move to Saudi Arabia prior to confirmation that a deal had been struck on Friday night.
The veteran had previously expressed a desire to join a club who could offer him Champions League football. Although that has not materialised, Ronaldo is now set to become the highest player in the world at Al Nassr, who have reportedly agreed to pay him a whopping £173million-a-year.
After the move was confirmed, Neville, a former teammate of Ronaldo's, expressed that he was sad that the veteran would not be able to play out the final years of his career on the global stage.
Speaking on Sky Sports, Neville said: "We’re going to see a lot less of him obviously. It tells us how serious Saudi Arabia are about football, they aren’t going to go away, they’re going for the World Cup, invested £350m in one player. They’re trying to strengthen the league.
"For Cristiano Ronaldo, I thought he’d want to stay in this season at least in Europe, score more goals and try and find a Champions League club so it tells me that the offer is staggering and maybe the club he wanted in Europe didn’t come in for him that he wanted.
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"There’s an element of sadness for me because we’re not seeing Cristiano Ronaldo at the top level, something we could’ve seen at Old Trafford if things had of been dealt with properly but that had to come to an end and close before the World Cup. It’s been in an inevitability and Cristiano Ronaldo is going to see his career out in Saudi."
Ronaldo, who was last seen in tears following Portugal's exit from the World Cup, could make his debut in Saudi Arabia as early as next week.
While Neville was less than impressed with the move, Saudi Arabia's Minister of Sports, Prince Abdulaziz bin Turki Al-Faisal, expressed his delight on social media.
He tweeted shortly after the move was confirmed: "Happy with the presence of one of the best players in the world to start his new career in Saudi Arabia. Welcome @Cristiano to the kingdom and we will support the rest of our clubs for qualitative deals with international stars soon."
