Cristiano Ronaldo to undergo medical to complete £173m-a-year transfer after Man Utd exit
Cristiano Ronaldo is reportedly set to undergo a medical at Al-Nassr ahead of a move that will see him earn a staggering £173million per year.
The superstar attacker left Manchester United in acrimonious fashion just before the World Cup following a bombshell interview with Piers Morgan. Since that exit, Ronaldo’s options have steadily decreased, with Bayern Munich and Real Madrid both ruling themselves out of signing him.
One of the only offers he has received since his departure from Old Trafford has come from Saudi Arabian side Al-Nassr. They currently sit top of the table in the Saudi Pro League, as they look to win their first title since 2019.
The Knights of Najd are hopeful that signing Ronaldo can be a key step in realising those ambitions. That blockbuster move appears to have moved a step closer, with CBS Sports reporting that Al-Nassr have scheduled a medical for Ronaldo.
It is said that Ronaldo’s agent has failed to find a suitor in Europe for his client, forcing the Portugal captain to look elsewhere. Al-Nassr are currently the frontrunners, with Mirror Football previously revealing he had been offered a whopping £173m-a-year deal.
The Saudi side are highly optimistic that they can complete the move, having already booked accommodation for Ronaldo and his advisors. They are hopeful of announcing Ronaldo’s arrival in time for the start of the January transfer window.
It is claimed that the ‘broad terms’ of Ronaldo’s contract have already been agreed and the ball is now in his court about the final decision. On top of his £830,000 per week wages, Ronaldo would be expected to earn a substantial amount in image rights deals.
He would also be handed a role in Saudi Arabia’s bid for the 2030 World Cup, as well as an ‘outsized role’ in the running of Al-Nassr, with the power to appoint the manager.
Current manager Rudi Garcia will hope that Ronaldo does not exercise that right if he does complete a move to Saudi Arabia. Garcia has already hailed the superstar attacker and insisted he would love to work with him.
“I can’t say anything about Cristiano because otherwise, it would immediately appear in the headlines: ‘Garcia: about Ronaldo’. What I see is that it has been a soap opera and it has been a very important promotion for Al Nassr,” he told AS a fortnight ago.
“I think that any coach would be delighted to train a great star like Cristiano and already in November 2021 I was very close to going to United. They chose Ralf Rangnick, but I met twice with John Murtough and Darren Fletcher.
“Nothing special, but I have always thought that the great players are the easiest to manage because they are very intelligent, I verified this with Francesco Totti at Roma. At the moment, the goal with Al Nassr is simple: win titles.
“We’re not playing in the Asian Champions League this year because of the World Cup, but we want to win the league and the cups. winning titles in a country other than France is a very important motivation for me too.”
