Real Madrid and Manchester United legend Cristiano Ronaldo is showing no sign of retiring, despite turning 40 in February of this year. With his contract in Saudi Arabia up this year, there has been some talk that he could leave Al-Nassr and move to Major League Soccer, reigniting competition with Lionel Messi.
Ronaldo moved to Al-Nassr 2.5 years ago in a major shock, having rescinded his contract with Manchester United in November of 2022. Ronaldo will reportedly earn around €500m over the course of that deal, working out as about €200m per season. Less than a month after penning his deal in the Middle East, Ronaldo was also certain he would be returning to Europe before the end of his career.
That looks increasingly unlikely though, with Marca reporting that Ronaldo is on the verge of penning a new two-year extension with the Saudi giants. While his salary would remain the same, the business links between Ronaldo and the Saudi empire go far beyond his salary, and includes a percentage of ownership of the club.
One of the motives for Ronaldo is to pursue the 1,000 goal mark, one of the objectives that he has set himself before the end of his career. He is also keen to maintain himself in shape and ready for Portugal duty – Ronaldo still harbours hope of being a factor at the 2026 World Cup in the United States, Mexico and Canada.
Since moving to Saudi Arabia, Ronaldo has made 99 appearances for Al-Nassr, managing 90 goals and 19 assists in those appearances. He is also top scorer in the Saudi Pro League this season with 23 goals, ahead of the likes of Karim Benzema and Ivan Toney.
That has taken Ronaldo to 934 goals, just 66 shy of his target. While perhaps it would be overly ambitious to reach that total in one season, at least based on his current averages, Ronaldo would definitely see it as a realistic target over the course of this reported new deal.
