Cristiano Ronaldo has confirmed he will stay in Saudi Arabia next season.
The striker, 38, committed his future to the Saudi Pro League after reports emerged of a potential shock return to Europe and Real Madrid.
He ended the speculation in an interview in Saudi where he asserted his intention to remain in the Middle East, and claimed the Saudi league can become a “top five league in the world”.
“I am happy here, I want to continue here, I will continue here,” he said. “And in my opinion if they continue to do the work that they want to do here, for the next five years, I think the Saudi league can be a top five league in the world.
“I will be part of your world, your culture, I will be here, I hope I make the people enjoy through my games, my performance, and to win things, but again, thank you for welcoming me, and I will try to give my best during the time that I will be here.”
Ronaldo left Manchester United in January after becoming an outcast under then-new manager Erik ten Hag at the beginning of the 2022/23 season.
He also discussed some of the training habits and changes he has adapted to in Saudi compared to the UK and Europe.
“One example is in Europe we train more in the morning, but here we train in the afternoon, or evening and in Ramadan we train at 10 at night - so this is so strange, but as I tell you these situations are part of an experience, memories,” he explained.
“I like to live these moments because you learn with these things. It is difficult, but it is nothing I have not seen before. My experience so far is that Saudi fans they really love football and like to live the life and it is good and I am so happy until now.’
“Well, my expectation was a little bit different, to be honest I expected to win something this year, but it is not always the way we think or the way we want, sometimes we need passion, consistency, and persistence to achieve the best things.
“So, I still believe that next year we will improve a lot, let us say in the last five or six months, the team has improved a lot, even the league, all the teams improved.
“It takes time sometimes, but if you believe and you think it is your goal, I think everything is possible. I expected to win something this year, but we didn’t, but next year I am really positive and confident that things will change, and we go in a better way. So, let us believe that and work on that.”
Despite Ronaldo scoring 14 goals in 16 league games during the second half of the season, his team, Al Nassr, came up short in the Saudi Pro League which was one by Nuno Espirito Santo’s side Al Ittihad.
The Portuguese superstar scored 14 goals in 16 Saudi Pro League
Saudi Pro League
The Saudi Pro League (SPL), known as the Roshn Saudi League (RSL) for sponsorship reasons, is the highest division of association football in the Saudi league system.
https://en.wikipedia.org › wiki › Saudi_Pro_League
games during the 2022/23 campaign. Cristiano Ronaldo has confirmed he will stay in Saudi Arabia next season. The striker, 38, committed his future to the Saudi Pro League after reports emerged of a potential shock return to Europe and Real Madrid.
Martinez said at a news conference that Ronaldo continued to offer "a quality in front of goal which we greatly appreciate and which we need". Ronaldo made his tournament debut at Euro 2004 when Portugal reached the final on home soil, but lost to Greece.
Ronaldo will stay until he completes his tenure in the summer of 2025, according to journalist Ahmed A-Jadi. With this, Al Nassr buried all rumours about other clubs hunting the star with this expose. David Beckham's Inter Miami was interested in acquiring Ronaldo, as per many rumours.
Cristiano Ronaldo reportedly wants to extend his stay at Saudi Pro League club Al Nassr until 2027. Ronaldo is 38 but has shown no signs of slowing down, scoring 25 goals in 30 games in Saudi Arabia while continuing to represent Portugal at international level.
Who is better Messi Or Ronaldo? Ronaldo has scored a record number of international goals and appearances, but Messi has won more Ballon d'Or awards (8). Messi has spent most of his playing career in Spain and France, while Ronaldo has played in Portugal, England, Spain, and Italy.
This football player is very popular all over the world and apart from football, his source of income is various big brands with which he is associated like Nike, Electronics Arts etc. In this way, Ronaldo's total wealth is 450 million dollars.
Per Forbes, Ronaldo became the first professional athlete ever to surpass the billion-dollar threshold just in career earnings in 2020, as his net worth is around $500 million according to some estimations that include wages, endorsem*nt deals, real estate, and advertisem*nts.
The next World Cup may be three years away, but Cristiano Ronaldo reportedly plans to take part in the 2026 World Cup in the USA, Mexico and Canada. He has apparently told Al Nassr that he'd like to extend his contract with the club until at least the beginning of 2027, when he is expected to hang up his boots.
Can Ronaldo reach 1,000 goals? He could if he plays long enough and keeps scoring at an elite level. As of 05/09/2021 he has scored 785 official goals for club and country. Considering he scores a goal every 1.37 matches (for his career) that means to score a further 215 goals he needs to play around 300 more.
Lionel Messi misses out on Inter Miami-Al Nassr match
Lionel Messi is not in the starting line-up nor on the bench for today's friendly against Al Nassr, reportedly due to discomfort he felt following Inter Miami's previous match that caused him to have an MRI.
WHAT HAPPENED? Ronaldo was a notable absentee from the Al-Nassr squad for Friday's Saudi Pro League match. The Portuguese superstar has been sidelined after his red card for an elbow last time out against league leaders Al-Hilal.
Barring any late injuries, Ronaldo will play at EURO 2024 after he was named in their squad and featured heavily during Portugal's superb qualification campaign for the tournament. The Al-Nassr star scored the second most goals of any player in qualifying (10) as Portugal won all of their matches.
The club participated in the Pro League, the King Cup, the AFC Champions League, the Arab Club Champions Cup, and the Super Cup. The season covers the period from 1 July 2023 to 30 June 2024.
He is currently 38 years old and plays as a Striker for Al Nassr in Saudi Arabia. His overall rating in FIFA 23 is 88 with a potential of 88. Cristiano Ronaldo has got a 5-star skillmoves rating.
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