Former Manchester United star Cristiano Ronaldo had two other offers before deciding to seal a transfer to Saudi Arabian giants Al Nassr this January.
That’s according to Fabrizio Romano in his Daily Briefing exclusively for CaughtOffside, with the transfer news expert explaining that he was not aware of offers from European clubs as Ronaldo left Man Utd this winter.
Romano says the other clubs involved in the race to sign the 37-year-old were Al Hilal and Sporting Kansas City, though he admits there may have been other clubs interested but that their names have not been confirmed by anyone close to the player.
The Portugal international had a sensational career at the highest level in Europe for the last two decades, but has now admitted that part of his career is over.
It is not too surprising, therefore, that Romano also said he’s not had it confirmed to him that there is a clause that could see Ronaldo join Newcastle United on loan if they qualify for the Champions League.
“I’m aware of Sporting Kansas City, Al Hilal and Al Nassr proposals, but of course if he said that I guess there was something else!” Romano said.
“No one close to Ronaldo wants to confirm the clause for European clubs or Newcastle, so at the moment there’s no confirmation.”
Newcastle are building something exciting at St James’ Park since their Saudi takeover last season, but it’s not clear how an ageing superstar like Ronaldo would fit into that anyway.
Eddie Howe is currently doing a hugely impressive job, but has mostly been building around younger players, so it might not be wise to disrupt that promising project with such a distracting big-name arrival who wouldn’t necessarily fit the playing style too well.
Ronaldo turns 38 next month and struggled towards the end of his time at United, so this move to Al Nassr now seems to make the most sense for him as he nears the end of his career.