"Superstar" Cristiano Ronaldo (39) will renew his contract with Saudi Arabia's Al Nasr.
"Ronaldo will extend his contract with Al Nasr until June 2026," the British media "Mirror" said on the 15th (Korea Standard Time), adding, "Ronaldo, who will turn 40 next month, will receive 168 million pounds (about 299.5 billion won) in annual salary."
Ronaldo first signed an agreement with Al-Nasr in December 2022. He left the European leagues and moved to Saudi Arabia, raising questions. Ronaldo achieved extraordinary results right after the transfer and lived up to his reputation. He has scored more than 20 goals since the first season. Above all, he served as an opportunity for Saudi Arabia to gather European stars after Ronaldo's transfer.
Al-Nasr chose to renew his contract because he was satisfied with Ronaldo's performance that has not gone down well this season. Ronaldo has scored 75 goals while playing in 84 games for two seasons, although he is still without a match in Saudi Arabia. In the last season, he became the top scorer by scoring the most goals in a single season in the Saudi Arabian League.
Al-Nasr offered enormous conditions to keep Ronaldo alive until 2026. According to media, Ronaldo's weekly wage amounts to 3.19 million pounds (5.6 billion won or 6.06 million U.S. dollars). It is a massive amount that is stamped in his bank account with 800 million won per day. Ronaldo, who is still receiving the highest annual salary in the world, has re-demonstrated his greatest star quality by renewing his contract.
Ronaldo is also satisfied with his life in Saudi Arabia. Ronaldo, who received the best player in the Middle East and the highest score ever at the 2024 Globe Soccer Awards at the end of last year, raised his voice by saying, "Saudi Arabia is a higher level," referring to the French Ligue 1.
"This is not what I'm saying because I'm playing here. I don't care what people think. I came to a conclusion after running here," Ronaldo said. "France only has Paris Saint-Germain. The rest of the team is not competitive. No one can beat Paris Saint-Germain."
"Saudi Arabia is different. If you jump at 40 degrees Celsius, you will see how difficult the Saudi league is," he said.
Ronaldo has also renewed his contract with Sporting CP in 2002 and has scored 782 goals at clubs alone, including Manchester United (2003-2009-2021-2022), Real Madrid (2009-2018), Juventus (2018-2022), and Al Nasr (2023~). Ronaldo, who has been in charge of Portugal's offense for more than 20 years, has scored 135 goals in 217 games.
He still has a target to reach. Many expect him to surpass the 1,000-goal mark. To do so, he needs to play as an active player even after age 40. Last year, Ronaldo said, "I don't think about setting a record of 1,000 goals. I want to make history, but I'm not obsessed with 1,000 goals. Retirement could happen soon. It could happen in a year or two," adding, "I don't know for now. I'm focusing on enjoying soccer." 메이저사이트