Cristiano Ronaldo signed a two-year contract extension with Saudi Arabian membership Al-Nassr on Thursday.
The Portugal nice’s deal lets him proceed taking part in till a minimum of the age of 42 and can give him the prospect so as to add to his record-breaking profession.
“A brand new chapter begins. Similar ardour, identical dream. Let’s make historical past collectively,” Ronaldo stated in a social media put up.
The five-time Ballon d’Or winner moved to Saudi Arabia on the finish of 2022 in one of the vital stunning transfers in soccer historical past after leaving Manchester United. The spectacular deal was reportedly price as much as $200 million a 12 months and led to a slew of prime gamers leaving Europe for the oil-rich kingdom, together with Neymar and Karim Benzema.
Ronaldo sparked uncertainty about his future on the finish of the Saudi season final month when asserting the “chapter is over.” However the announcement on Thursday put an finish to hypothesis about his subsequent transfer.
“Al-Nassr eternally,” he stated in a video accompanying the announcement.
The deal is proof the 40-year-old former Actual Madrid ahead needs to attain extra in what has been one of many best soccer careers of all time.
The five-time Champions League winner has simply added one other trophy to his assortment after serving to Portugal raise the UEFA Nations League — and it’s seemingly he’ll nonetheless be representing his nation at subsequent 12 months’s World Cup.
In all, Ronaldo has received 28 main trophies with membership and nation. He’s the all-time main scorer within the Champions League with 141 objectives.
However trophies have been tougher to return by in Saudi Arabia the place he has had solely restricted success.
His one trophy up to now was the Arab Membership Champions Cup in 2023 and Al-Nassr continues to be to win the Saudi Professional League in three makes an attempt with Ronaldo within the staff.
Nonetheless, his newest deal was hailed by the membership, which posted a video of him strolling on a seaside with the caption “The Story continues..” together with emojis of a goat and a gold coronary heart.
Ronaldo is taken into account by many to be soccer’s best of all time, a time period usually abbreviated as GOAT.
He and Lionel Messi have had a years-long rivalry as the 2 best gamers of their era, with the duel reaching its peak after they performed for Madrid and Barcelona respectively.
The depth of the rivalry has diminished lately as each gamers have entered the latter phases of their careers and are taking part in in much less heralded leagues, with Messi becoming a member of MLS staff Inter Miami in 2023.
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