Following the announcement of his transfer on Friday, the famous Portuguese player Cristiano Ronaldo will be introduced to the supporters of the Saudi club Al-Nassr on Monday. His transfer is expected to cost 200 million euros over two and a half years.
The club's spokesperson, Al-Walid Al-Muhaidib, told AFP that the five-time Ballon d'Or winner, who played for Manchester United up to the World Cup, must arrive Monday night with his family.
It will be welcomed in Mrsool Park of Ryad Stadium (25,000 seats) at 19:00 local time (16h00 GMT).
The 37-year-old forward left Manchester in a tumultuous manner after declaring in a hostile interview that he "no longer respected" his coach Erik ten Hag and also berated the club's executives.
After playing just briefly, he was eliminated from the World Cup in Qatar in the quarterfinals alongside Portugal, which lost to Morocco (1-0).
The appointment of a world-renowned athlete with a contract through 2025 is the most recent development in the rich Arabie Saoudite's efforts to establish itself as a major sports power, following the acceptance of the F1, boxing, golf, and the Newcastle United football team.
Before Ronaldo, a number of famous football players, such George Weah, Pep Guardiola, and Xavi, have already held positions of power in the monarchs of the Golf.
Prince Abdelaziz ben Turki al-Fayçal, the minister of sports, promised in a tweet that he would "soon support other national clubs looking for quality contracts with foreign stars."
Ronaldo has won five Ligue des champions titles (2008 with Manchester United, 2014, 2016, 2017, and 2018 with Real Madrid), as well as national championships in Italy (2019 and 2020) with Juventus, Spain (2012 and 2017) with Real Madrid, and England (2007, 2008, and 2009) with Manchester United. He won the 2016 Euro with the Portuguese team.
With 140 goals, he is also the all-time leading scorer in the Champions League. In Qatar, he made history by becoming the first man to score in five straight World Cup matches.
