Cristiano Ronaldo is set to pick up a very heavy bag, having secured one of the most lucrative contracts in sporting history.
The attacker, who recently represented Portugal at the 2022 FIFA World Cup, is headed to Saudi Arabian club Al-Nassr on a deal worth $75 million a year. Ronaldo is contracted for two-and-a-half years, which means he will earn a whopping $187.5 million over the duration.
As one would expect, reactions to this have been rife.
You could see some of them below.
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Ronaldo Doing What’s Best For Ronaldo
Plenty of soccer fans are unhappy with Ronaldo’s decision, especially considering he said he was keen to continue playing at the highest level and compete in the Champions League.
The 37-year-old rejoined Manchester United last year and scored 19 goals for the Premier League side in his first season back. However, he fell out of favor with United’s new coach Erik ten Hag, who benched him for most of the current season to date, before severing ties with the team with which he made his name. He received the same treatment from Portugal during the World Cup.
In spite of how most fans may feel about this latest decision, Ronaldo has left European soccer having achieved everything one could hope to achieve at club level. He’s done what he feels was the right thing for him to do and it’s certainly not going to hurt his pockets. According to FrontOfficeSports, the forward will earn $214 million a year, which includes revenue from commercial deals.
Al-Nassr will officially unveil Ronaldo after their match against Al Khaleej on Saturday.