Portuguese superstar Cristiano Ronaldo will be greeted by thousands of adoring fans in Riyadh on Tuesday after his shock move to Saudi Arabia’s Al Nassr.
The 37-year-old, who won the Ballon d’Or five times and had a great rivalry with Lionel Messi for more than a decade, will be paraded at his new club’s Mrsool Park stadium late on Monday night after flying in with his entourage.
Ronaldo signed his deal, which is worth an estimated 200 million euros and lasts until June 2025, just a few weeks after leaving Manchester United. In a TV interview, he had criticized the team and its coach, Erik ten Hag.
Al Nassr, which has won the Saudi league nine times, is a step down for the Portuguese forward, who led United, Real Madrid, and Juventus to titles.
Oil-rich royal family People often say that Saudi Arabia is “sportswashing,” or using sports to draw attention away from human rights issues. This is because Saudi Arabia has been buying up sports assets to soften its image of being strict.
“See you soon, Nassr fans,” Ronaldo said on the plane, in a video posted on Al Nassr’s Instagram account.
The star has spoken 🤩#AlNassr fans.. how excited are you? 🔥
See you tomorrow 🙏#HalaRonaldo 💛
pic.twitter.com/WQPDZGUd0V— AlNassr FC (@AlNassrFC_EN) January 2, 2023
Ronaldo arrives just a few weeks after the World Cup in nearby Qatar, and at the same time that Saudi Arabia is thinking about putting in a joint bid with Egypt and Greece to host the biggest football tournament.
The club got more than 130,000 requests for tickets to the unveiling, which cost 15 riyals ($4) each and went to charity. Thousands of fans are expected to fill the 25,000-seat Mrsool Park.
