Ronaldo officially joins Saudi Al-Nassr FC

Cristiano Ronaldo will wear the Al-Nassr jersey. On Saturday, the Saudi Pro League club announced on its official Twitter account that it had signed a contract with Ronaldo, one of the best football players in the world. Specific terms were not disclosed. According to the Guardian and other media outlets, the contract period is until the summer of 2025, and the annual salary is 200 million euros (approximately 270.3 billion won).

Ronaldo surpasses Kylian Mbappe of Paris Saint-Germain, the most well-paid soccer player, to become number one in this category. According to Forbes, Mbappe's annual salary is 106.7 million pounds (approximately 163 billion won). When Ronaldo played for Manchester United in the 2021-2022 season, he received an annual salary of 20.02 million pounds (about 30.5 billion won). At Al-Nassr, Ronaldo is likely to wield considerable influence. CBS Sports reported, “At club level, Ronaldo's authority will be vast, with one source joking that Al-Nassr would become 'Cristiano FC.' If the veteran striker wants a new coach then that is what he will have.”

The football team is already enjoying the effects of having Ronaldo. The British Daily Mail reported fans lined up to buy his uniform at the Al-Nassr FC souvenir shop in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia when his signing was announced." The team’s Instagram followers also increased more than fivefold from 830,000 to about 5.15 million as of 5:00 p.m. Sunday.

“Welcome Ronaldo to Asian football,” The Asian Football Confederation (AFC) announced on its official social media. Last year, Al-Nassr finished second in the league and failed to qualify for the AFC Champions League this year. If they win the league this year, they will compete in the AFC Champions League in 2024.


Bae-Jung Kim wanted@donga.com