Cristiano Ronaldo reportedly had a dream return to former club Real Madrid scuppered before his move to Al-Nassr was confirmed.
The Portuguese forward’s switch to the Saudi outfit was announced on Friday evening. He penned a deal worth in the region of £173m per year after his explosive exit from Manchester United earlier this month.
Speaking after his switch was announced, Ronaldo said: "I’m thrilled for a new experience in a different league and a different country, the vision that Al Nassr has is very inspiring. I am very excited to join my teammates, to help the team to achieve more success."
Whilst Ronaldo has hailed the move, it appears that a switch to Saudi Arabia wasn’t quite his first port of call. According to Marca, Ronaldo had ambitions of continuing to play in the Champions League having stated as much in his bombshell interview with Piers Morgan.
He was apparently eyeing a return to former club Real Madrid. Indeed, Ronaldo had previously confirmed that he was going to hang up his boots at the Santiago Bernabeu.
Speaking during his previous spell at the club, he said: “I’m going to retire at Madrid when I’m over 40. I’m very happy here and I work hard to achieve that.”
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Ronaldo had returned to Spain this month and even trained at Real’s Valdebebas training complex in an effort to keep up his fitness. Ricardo Regufe was the man to hold talks ahead of Ronaldo’s switch with the Portuguese’s regular agent Jorge Mendes reportedly not being involved.
After the Spanish side showed little interest in making a move for his services, the veteran forward was forced to go through with his switch to Al-Nassr. Talks were then held between Ronaldo’s representatives and the Saudi club, ironically in Madrid, where they settled on a deal until 2025.
Whilst Ronaldo will likely be disappointed that he could not round off his career in a fairytale way, it is unlikely that he will have been surprised that Los Blancos did not make a move for his signature. Club president Florentino Perez was probed about the prospect of making a move for the Portuguese by a fan back in the summer.
He issued a brutal response by replying: "Cristiano? Again? At 38?" - even though Ronaldo was 37 at the time.
The forward was originally at Real Madrid for just under a decade between 2009 and 2018. In that time, he became the club’s record goalscorer with 450 goals in 438 games - helping the Spanish side to two league titles, two Copas del Rey, four Champions Leagues and a whole host of other trophies.
He eventually called time on his career in Madrid with a move to Juventus where he stayed for three seasons before returning to Man Utd.
