Former Manchester United defender Gary Neville has admitted that he thought Cristiano Ronaldo would have stayed in Europe for the remainder of the season after his move to Al-Nassr was confirmed on Friday night.
Ronaldo finally put speculation over his future to bed by signing a contract with the Saudi Pro League side until 2025. It's reported that the deal could be worth around £172million for the 37-year-old.
Despite previously stating his desire to play in the Champions League, a deal to join a club competing in Europe's premier competition failed to materialise.
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And now Neville, who was criticised by Ronaldo during his scathing interview with Piers Morgan, has revealed that he fully expected the veteran to remain in Europe for the rest of the 2022/23 season.
He told Sky Sports: "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 £350million 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.
"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 been dealt with properly but that had to come to an end and close before the World Cup. It’s been an inevitability and Cristiano Ronaldo is going to see his career out in Saudi."
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