Gary Neville has had his say on the news that Cristiano Ronaldo has joined Saudi Arabian side Al Nasser on a two-year deal.
Prior to Cristiano Ronaldo’s Manchester United exit just over a month ago, the 37-year-old made it very clear that he was unhappy at Old Trafford but felt he could still play at the highest level.
Ronaldo went on to perform abysmally at the World Cup as Fernando Santos appeared to come to the realisation that the forward doesn’t have the same impact on games anymore.
Now he has ended up at Al Nassr…
In a statement, Al Nassr said: “History in the making. This is a signing that will not only inspire our club to achieve even greater success but inspire our league, our nation and future generations, boys and girls to be the best version of themselves.”
Speaking after the news was announced, Neville told Sky Sports that he feels sadness that Ronaldo’s time as an elite talent is running out.
“We’re going to see a lot less of him,” Neville said. “It tells us a few things; one, how serious Saudi Arabia are about football They’re going for the World Cup and have invested £350m in one player, and are trying to strengthen the league.
“But for Cristiano Ronaldo, I felt he would want to stay for this season at least in one of the big leagues in Europe and go and score more goals and potentially find a Champions League club. It tells me that obviously the offer is staggering and maybe the club didn’t come in for him in Europe and he felt that this was the option to go for.
“There’s an element of sadness for me that we’re probably seeing the last of Cristiano Ronaldo playing at the top level, which is something that I think we could have continued to see at Old Trafford had it been handled differently by both parties throughout the season,” he added. “But that came to an end. It was an inevitability and it’s been coming for the last couple of weeks. It seems like Cristiano is going to see his career out in Saudi.”
🗣️ "We're seeing the last of Ronaldo at the top level"
Gary Neville reacts to Cristiano Ronaldo's move to Saudi Arabian club Al-Nassr! pic.twitter.com/ImYKRRiwKR
— Sky Sports Premier League (@SkySportsPL) December 30, 2022
The truth hurts.
