While definitely a step down for him in terms of the quality of football, Ronaldo’s transfer to an Asian club is a momentous occasion for the global game.
We take a look.
Ronaldo throws a hissy fit to become free agent
The happenings of the past five months all played a part in today’s announcement. Ronaldo began the season at Manchester United. United were coming off a disastrous 2021-22 campaign where despite Ronaldo’s above average goal tally (24 goals in all competitions), the team failed to win any silverware or finish in the top four of the Premier League. For many observers, Ronaldo’s game was already on its way down, despite his managing to score the odd goal.
In the new season, the goals dried up and all of a sudden, Ronaldo looked like a shell of his former self. What did not help was that at the beginning of the season, Manchester United brought in Dutch coach, Erik ten Hag, formerly of Ajax FC and a tactical savant who has made a name for himself in Europe. Ten Hag is a “project manager” – he was brought in to execute a long-term plan to take Manchester United back to the top of English football. Unfortunately for Ronaldo, his stature itself was not enough for ten Hag to include him in his plans. He was unceremoniously benched for multiple games.
What followed was a cold war between player and coach, with Ronaldo misbehaving many times over the season. For instance, against Tottenham, he refused to be substituted in during the fag end of a game where United was already cruising to a victory. He was seen heading into the tunnel while the game was still on. And in the few opportunities that Ronaldo did get, he played some of the worst football in his career.
So when the Piers Morgan interview dropped in November, after the team had already disbanded for the mid-season World Cup in Qatar, many were not surprised. Ronaldo did not hold back, taking potshots at the club’s infrastructure, the owners, and most importantly, the coach. The interview was not well received amongst most United fans and the club, with his remarks on ten Hag (“I do not respect him”) drawing particular criticism. He was soon released by the club, becoming a free agent.
Nobody wants Ronaldo
The problem for Ronaldo was that while he had expertly engineered an exit from Manchester United, there did not seem to be a club in Europe which wanted his services. There were rumours that Bayern Munich, Atletico Madrid and Chelsea were “interested” in him but these were soon put to bed. Ronaldo was way past his prime but seemingly lacked the self-awareness to know that. Consequently, he was radioactive for almost any top team with a long-term plan.
Furthermore, Ronaldo is an expensive player to bring in. While his presence itself is of great commercial value to the club, getting his services would not be cheap. There are only a handful of top clubs in the world with the resources to sign Cristiano Ronaldo. And on Ronaldo’s end, there were no indications of him agreeing to a lower fee. Things were at an impasse.
Saudi club Al-Nassr swoops in
The first reports of Ronaldo in talks with Al-Nassr came in late November when Italian journalist Fabrizio Romano tweeted about an “imminent deal” between the two parties. At the time, however, Ronaldo quashed these rumours, saying that he was focussed on Portugal’s World Cup campaign (in which he got benched by the knockouts).
However, these rumours picked up once the World Cup was over, culminating in Al-Nassr announcing Cristiano Ronaldo’s signing earlier today. So what is Al-Nassr? Why did they sign Ronaldo? Most importantly, how could they sign Ronaldo?
Simply put, Al-Nassr is one of the most successful clubs in Saudi Arabia, winning over 30 trophies in all competitions since its inception in 1955. Based out of Riyadh, it currently stands second in the Saudi league, behind rivals Al-Shabab. Al-Nassr in Arabic means “victory” – clubs with the same name can be found across West Asia, including UAE, Qatar, Kuwait, Bahrain and even Libya. However, the Saudi club was the first to take this name.
Today, it is one of the biggest clubs in Asia, home to top Saudi players along with a sprinkling of international talent such as Cameron’s Vincent Aboubakar (formerly in Besiktas and Porto) and Colombia’s David Ospina (formerly in Niece, Arsenal and Napoli). Cristiano Ronaldo will be the highest-profile signing in the club’s history and arguably the biggest player to ever play professional football in Asia.
For Al-Nassr, Ronaldo’s name recognition itself is key. A player like that puts any club he joins on the radar of fans, bringing in interest and revenue from all kinds of places. After only a few hours of the Ronaldo signing, Al-Nassr doubled its social media following. Currently, its website has crashed because of the immense traffic that even they could not anticipate. While Cristiano Ronaldo will still be more than a handful in the Saudi League, probably scoring lots of goals with some worldies sprinkled in, this is not purely a “footballing move.”
How could Al-Nassr afford Ronaldo? A larger political game?
Al-Nassr is a rich club, among the richest in Asia. This is not the first time they have signed European stars, famously signing Bulgarian legend Hristo Stoichkov on a two-match contract to help win the 1998 Asian Cup Winners’ Cup. In 2015, the club named 2006 World Cup champion and Ballon d’Or winner, Fabio Cannavaro as its manager, though his stint did not last long.
But beyond the individual capacity of Al-Nassr to sign Ronaldo are the larger workings of the Saudi league and Saudi politics in general. Ever since traditional rivals Qatar won the hosting rights of the Fifa World Cup, Saudi Arabia has been eyeing to host its very own tournament. During the 2022 tournament, there were multiple reports about an imminent Saudi bid for the 2030 Fifa World Cup with Crown Prince Mohammad Bin Salman seen with Fifa boss Gianni Infantino on various occasions.
There is no doubt that signing a player like Cristiano Ronaldo to the league would be pivotal for the stature of Saudi football and crucial for its reported 2030 bid.
Notably, the current chairman of Al-Nassr, Musalli Almuammar, was previously the President of the Saudi Pro League and is known to be close to the ruling family. In 2020, he was appointed “Adviser to His Excellency Chairman of Entertainment Authority” according to his LinkedIn profile. The Entertainment Authority is a crucial cog of Saudi Arabia’s Vision 2030.
Not the first star signed to boost the profile of a league and country
While Ronaldo will be the biggest star in this category, he is not the first to be signed on a massive deal for purposes that went beyond the field. A good example of this would be the Chinese Super League in 2016-17. This was a time when Chinese football was being heavily boosted by the state, with owners getting all sorts of benefits and incentives to help clubs compete with the best in Asia and eventually, Europe. Marquee signings provided a major profile boost. Some of the biggest signings were:
- Oscar (reported weekly salary £400,000) signed for Shanghai SIPG in 2017
- Hulk (reported weekly salary £320,000) signed for Shanghai SIPG in 2016
- Carlos Tevez (reported weekly salary £635,000) signed for Shanghai Shenhua in 2016
- Ezequiel Lavezzi (reported weekly salary £798,000) signed for Hebei FC in 2016
Apart from these players, the league also signed a bunch of older talent from Europe and South America.
Ronaldo has had a torrid time this season, being relegated to a bench role both for club and country. (Photo: AP) 
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