Cristiano Ronaldo to join Al-Nassr after agreeing £432m contract. Cristiano Ronaldo has reached a final agreement to join Al-Nassr in January, according to reports in Spain.
The 37-year-old has been searching for a new club after his contract with Manchester United was terminated last month.
United moved quickly to end Ronaldo’s deal, which was worth in excess of £500,000 a week and still had seven months left to run, in response to his interview with Piers Morgan in which he slammed Erik ten Hag and the club’s owners.
Last week, Marca reported that Ronaldo had received a contract offer worth €500 million (£432m) from Al-Nassr.
The Spanish newspaper now claims that Ronaldo has reached a final agreement with the Saudi Arabian club and will join them on January 1.
Ronaldo, a five-time Ballon d’Or winner, will sign a two-and-a-half-year contract worth €200m (£173m) per season.
According to Forbes’ list for 2022, the move will make Ronaldo the highest-paid athlete in the world as he moves ahead of Lionel Messi, who made $130 million (£105m) at Paris Saint-Germain this year, and Los Angeles Lakers’ LeBron James, who earned $121.2 million (£98m).
Al-Nassr are one of the most successful teams in Saudi Arabia having won the league title nine times.
Ronaldo had been pushing to leave United since the summer but his agent, Jorge Mendes, failed to find him a new club despite talks with several top European sides including Chelsea, Bayern Munich and PSG.
Speaking after Ronaldo’s contract was ended by United, Bayern’s CEO Oliver Kahn distanced the German club from a move for the 37-year-old.
‘We have a clear idea, a clear philosophy of how our squad should be put together,’ Kahn said.
‘We all appreciate him, there’s no discussion. We all love Cristiano Ronaldo, but that’s something that doesn’t fit into our idea.’
Ronaldo is currently preparing with Portugal’s squad for their World Cup last-16 tie against Switzerland on Tuesday evening.
