Musalli Al Muammar, the president of Al-Nassr, has publicly denied speaking with Cristiano Ronaldo during the World Cup 2022 in Qatar.
The 37-year-old was dropped from Portugal’s starting lineup after falling out of favour with the manager. He was benched against Switzerland in the round of 16 and then Morocco in the quarter-finals. The latter went on to eliminate them from the tournament.
He became a free agent following an explosive interview with Piers Morgan last month in which he heavily criticised Erik ten Hag, former manager Ralph Rangnick, the club’s infrastructure, his critics including Gary Neville and Wayne Rooney, and other controversial topics. The interview went viral, and his contract was terminated as a result.
It was reported during the World Cup that Ronaldo has agreed on an extraordinary deal worth £173million-a-year with Saudi Arab club Al Nassr. which would have made him the highest earner in sports by a long shot.
However, the president of the Saudi club has now come out and publicly denied any talks with Ronaldo. Al Muammar told SSC Sports channel, (via Daily Mail):
“Cristiano as busy recently with the World Cup and I didn’t expect him to negotiate with anyone.”
“We will not speak about other players, I wish the best to Cristiano with any decision.”
These updates come after Ronaldo spent two days training in Spain at Real Madrid’s Valdebebas training facility. According to the report, the president of the Spanish giants, Florentino Perez, has a really good relationship with the player and, at Ronaldo’s request, he opened up their training centre for him, reportedly telling him that it is ‘home’.
He continues to keep himself in shape as he hunts for a new club.