After his latest move to Manchester United, it was confirmed on Friday that Cristiano Ronaldo will continue his soccer career at Al-Nassr in the Saudi Arabian league. The five-time Ballon d'Or winner signed a two-year contract with the Middle Eastern club, but before making the decision he negotiated with a Major League Soccer (MLS) team. Why didn't you come to the United States?
The club that showed interest in the Portuguese player was Sporting Kansas City. And he was not so far from convincing CR7. In fact, the financial offer from the Missouri State team was very close to what the star's representatives were looking for.
According to specialized journalist Taylor Twellman, Sporting Kansas City's proposal was so convincing that the people in charge of the player's career arranged more than one meeting with the U.S. club's directors.
Multiple @MLS teams inquired about Ronaldo and his future but 1 team was already at the table: @SportingKC
Their offer was so compelling that Ronaldo’s team had multiple meetings w/SKC before taking the Saudi deal. The package (wages/commercial) was said to be “very close”. #MLS— Taylor Twellman (@TaylorTwellman) December 31, 2022
However, despite having been "very close", the amount of money offered by Al-Nassr was unattainable, so they ended up keeping the striker's services. European media reported that Cristiano Ronaldo's salary would be close to 200 million euros per season.
"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. Welcome Cristiano to your new home Al-Nassr," wrote the Saudi club's official Twitter account.
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. Welcome @Cristiano to your new home @AlNassrFC pic.twitter.com/oan7nu8NWC
— AlNassr FC (@AlNassrFC_EN) December 30, 2022
