THEY say money doesn’t buy you happiness – and fuming Al-Nassr superstar Cristiano Ronaldo can testify to that.
The five-time Ballon d’Or winner, 40, has been raking it in since his shock move to Saudi Arabia three years ago.
But his mood has soured at Al-Nassr – one of four Saudi Pro League clubs powered by the Kingdom’s Public Investment Fund (PIF) – and Ronaldo sat out their game against Al-Riyadh on Monday, reportedly because he was on strike.
So how on earth did we end up here?
Ronaldo sent shockwaves through the football world when he took his career to the Middle East late in 2022.
After a bitter end to his second spell at Manchester United, culminating in a public fall-out with then-manager Erik ten Hag, the Portuguese penned what was, at the time, the most lucrative contract in football history.
VAL BE OFF THEN
EFL boss leaves ‘with immediate effect’ with club in relegation battle
TURBO
Win a stunning VW Tiguan + £5,000 or £35,000 cash from just 12p with our code
Further to that, he picked out a league that no truly top player operating near the peak of their powers had ever gone to before.
And it turned out to be a pioneering move.
As part of Saudi Arabia’s mega sports investment project, Ronaldo was soon followed to the oil-rich nation by the likes of Neymar, Sadio Mane, Joao Felix and Karim Benzema.
Aside from cementing himself as a footballing trend-setter, the move came with obvious perks.
On basic wages of just under £500,000 A DAY, CR7 is estimated to have picked up around £441million over the course of his first contract.
His renewal last summer included a £24.5m signing bonus and an ownership stake in Al-Nassr worth £33m.
Combine those with several more months of massive wages, and Ronaldo has scooped up around £600MILLION since moving to Saudi.
As if the deal needed sweetening, Al-Nassr bosses chucked in 16 full-time staff including drivers, housekeepers, chefs, gardeners and security for Ronaldo and his family.
The former Real Madrid and Juventus forward, his wife Georgina Rodriguez and their five kids also have access to a complimentary private jet.
But Ronaldo is a sportsman above all else.
And in over three years, all he has to show for his time at Al-Nassr is the Arab Club Cup, which Fifa doesn’t even recognise as an official trophy.
Maybe it’s no surprise, then, that the club’s lack of ambition in the winter transfer window has touched a nerve.
The only player they have signed so far is Iraqi youngster Haydeer Abdulkareem, while their PIF-owned rivals, Al-Hilal, have spent big on Pablo Mari and Kader Meite.
Portuguese outlet A Bola has reported that Ronaldo is not a happy camper as he feels the PIF are treating their other clubs as a higher priority than Al-Nassr.
It’s a touchy subject for senior figures – as Al-Nassr boss Jorge Jesus recently discovered.
Al-Hilal called on the league to suspend him for a full YEAR after he stated that they have more “political power” than his own side.
Ronaldo, meanwhile, has kept Saudi bosses on their toes.
The old-timer, who turns 41 later this week, insists he wants to reach the 1,000-goal mark before he retires, and hinted that he doesn’t mind where he hits it.
He said in December: “My passion is high and I want to continue. It doesn’t matter where I play, whether in the Middle East or Europe.”
This isn’t the first time Ronaldo has thrown his toys out of the pram.
He stormed off the pitch and booted a water bottle after losing to rivals Al-Ittihad in 2023, and shushed fans for chanting Lionel Messi’s name at him a few months later.
Whether there’s any coming back from his latest tantrum – after 117 goals in 133 Al-Nassr games – remains to be seen.
Read the full article here