Cristiano Ronaldo makes a nasty mistake at his presentation in Saudi Arabia

Football International

Cristiano Ronaldo’s career is coming to an end. His last chapter in Europe at Manchester United ended abruptly after a sensational interview and several other faux pas beforehand. The contract with the English club was terminated.

Under Erik ten Haag, Ronaldo was rarely in the starting eleven at ManU.Image: www.imago-images.de / Shutterstock

After being demoted to the benchwarmer at United and later being sacked, he even lost his regular place with the national team in Qatar. With his move to Saudi Arabia, Ronaldo is now finally retiring from top-flight football. The new signing at Al-Nassr FC was officially unveiled on Tuesday.

Ronaldo change: Financial reasons probably predominate

Ronaldo didn’t want to know anything about an impending end to his career, but he made a rather embarrassing mistake when he declared war. “It’s not the end of my career going to South Africa”, Ronaldo replied to his critics at the press conference. It’s just stupid that Al-Nassr doesn’t play in South Africa, but in Riyadh in Saudi Arabia.

On Tuesday, Ronaldo was presented at Al-Nassr and trained with the team for the first time.Image: AP / Amr Nabil

It was most likely just a slip of the tongue by the Portuguese, albeit a thoroughly ironic one: Al-Nassr was a no-name club internationally before the Ronaldo transfer. The Saudi league is not one of the best in the world, but Ronaldo has long counted himself among it.

Because of the scandalous interview: Ronaldo and his advisor go their separate ways

The Portuguese portal “publico” reports, meanwhile, that the move to Saudi Arabia was not handled by Ronaldo’s longtime adviser Jorge Mendes. Mendes did make the initial contact, but then fell out with Ronaldo over his interview with Pierce Morgan.

Jorge Mendes (left) was named “Agent of the Year” in Dubai in November.Image: www.imago-images.de / LaPresse

Ronaldo was therefore sure that the top European clubs would fight for him in the summer. When that wasn’t the case, he blamed his then-employer, ManUnited. In a scandalous interview – which ultimately led to his departure from Manchester – he wanted to settle accounts with the culprits, but ultimately only came across as arrogant.

Mendes had advised his client against the interview because he feared it would reduce Ronaldo’s chances of a lucrative contract in Europe. Ronaldo obviously knew better. Now he’s playing in Saudi Arabia. He could already make his debut against Al Ta’ee on Thursday.