Portuguese soccer star Cristiano Ronaldo has signed a two-year contract with Al Nassr FC, a Saudi Arabian soccer team, in a deal worth a reported $200 million.
Al Nassr will celebrate Ronaldo’s arrival during Saturday’s match against Al Khaleej at their home stadium, Mrsool Park. A tweet announcing the deal read: “History in the making. This is a signing that will not only inspire our club to achieve even greater success but inspire our league, our nation and future generations, boys and girls to be the best version of themselves.”
Founded in 1955 in Riyadh, Al Nassr is one of the oldest soccer clubs in Saudi Arabia. The team, which has won nine Saudi Premier League titles, is currently managed by Rudi Garcia, who previously managed top-flight European soccer clubs such as Roma, Lille and Olympique de Marseille.
Ronaldo has been a free agent since his contract with Manchester United was terminated at the end of November. He was asked about an agreement with the Saudi club in a press conference after Portugal’s 6-1 victory over Switzerland in the World Cup; Ronaldo denied any involvement. Portugal lost 1-0 to Morocco in the quarterfinals and was eliminated from the tournament.
The 37-year-old player ranked third in Sportico‘s recent ranking of the world’s highest-paid athletes, earning $115 million, including a whopping $55 million off the pitch from endorsements. He was the first athlete to pass a combined 500 million followers on social media platforms, including Instagram, Twitter and Facebook in 2021.
(This story was altered in the first and second paragraphs to reflect Al Nassr’s announcement of the deal and to include the tweet and the photo.)
