Cristiano Ronaldo’s previous comments about playing in the Middle East have come back to bite him after signing for Saudi Arabian club Al-Nassr.
The Portugal superstar’s past views are now going viral after he signed a mega-money deal to become the highest-paid athlete in history.
Ronaldo has ended his search for a new club by joining Al-Nassr in a deal worth a staggering £178million-a-YEAR - dwarfing the salaries of Lionel Messi and Neymar and other sports stars around the globe.
Many would have been left puzzled by the news, with the 37-year-old insisting only earlier this month that reports he was set to join the Saudi side were ‘not true’.
That may well have been the case when he was asked about his future during the World Cup, but it appears the lure of that whopping pay cheque was too good to turn down.
Too bad that, by Ronado’s own reckoning, the transfer now makes him irrelevant.
Too harsh? Well, that was his opinion about Barcelona legend Xavi after he moved to Qatar in 2015.
Still at Real Madrid at the time, Ronaldo said about his Nou Camp rival: “Why would I care about what Xavi says?
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“Xavi plays in Qatar, or he used to, I don’t know. He has no relevance,” he said, with what can only be described as a dismissive smirk on his face.
“What do you want me to tell you?”
CR7 was responding to a journalist’s question about Xavi, after the Spaniard told the press ex-Barca teammate Lionel Messi was the best player in the world, with Ronaldo saying his opinion no longer mattered after signing for Qatari side Al Sadd.
But now he finds himself in the Middle East too, and many are suggesting it signals the beginning of the end of his career as he leaves European football after 20 years at the top.
But that’s not the only contradiction fans have dug out since the news emerged of Ronaldo’s Saudi switch.
During his bombshell interview with Piers Morgan earlier this year, which led to his bitter exit from Manchester United, Ronaldo dismissed the notion of taking the money and moving to Western Asia.
That aged well.
Morgan said to Ronaldo about his next move: “You want to keep playing at the highest level. You want to play Champions League football, you want to be breaking records.
“Again, it comes back to my gut feeling about you, that if it was just about money you’d be in Saudi Arabia earning a King’s ransom. But that’s not what motivates you. You want to keep at the top.”
Ronaldo responded: “Exactly.
“Because I still believe that I can score many, many goals and help the team. I still believe that I’m good and capable to help the national team.”
Fast forward less than two months, and CR7 has penned a two-year contract with Al Nassr, saying that he’s ‘eager to experience a new football league in a different country’.
He also added that the Saudi Arabian club’s vision was ‘very inspiring’.
And he could make his first-team debut this Thursday against Al Ta'ee in the Saudi Pro League.
Back in 2015, in a conversation with TV chat show host Jonathan Ross, Ronaldo also said he did not see himself moving to the Middle East because he wanted to end his career with 'dignity'.
Awkward.
Asked if he would consider a move to the United States or elsewhere when he gets older, Ronaldo said: "In my mind I want to finish at the top level, I want to finish with dignity at a good club.
"It doesn't mean that if you go to USA or Qatar or Dubai that it's not good, but I don't see myself…"
Ross asked: "You wouldn't want that for you?"
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Ronaldo replied: "No."
We wonder what changed his mind…
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