Featured Image Credit: Getty
Topics: Cristiano Ronaldo, Saudi Pro League, Football
Chris Byfield
Cristiano Ronaldo has earned an enormous amount since securing a transfer to the Saudi Pro League.
Just over a year ago, the five-time Ballon d’Or winner agreed to leave United and secured a pioneering and lucrative move to Saudi Pro League side Al Nassr.
At the time Ronaldo was the outlier in opting to move to the Gulf state, however the following summer, the likes of Neymar Jr, Sadio Mane, Roberto Firmino, Karim Benzema, Jordan Henderson and Riyad Mahrez all followed suit.
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Ronaldo’s transfer was confirmed on December 30, 2022, around a month after his Manchester United contract was terminated following a fall-out with Erik ten Hag and a scathing bombshell interview on Talk TV.
As per Marca, the Portugal star agreed an enormous £177-million-a-year deal with Al Nassr, which amounts to around £3,403,846 per week.
And having now been at the club for around 60 weeks, he has earned approximately £204,230,769.
Moreover, beyond earning a fortune, Ronaldo has also said the standard of the Saudi Pro League has improved drastically since his arrival.
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Indeed, speaking at the Globe Soccer Awards last month, Ronaldo claimed: "To be honest I think the Saudi League is not worse than the French league, in my opinion. In [the] French league I think you have two, or three teams with a good level.
"In Saudi now I think it's more competitive. They can say whatever they want, it's just my opinion and I played there one year so I know what I'm talking about. But I think right now we are better than [the] French league, we still improve."
The statement caused much controversy at the time, with the likes of Eden Hazard having refuted the comments.
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In an appearance on John Obi Mikel's Obi One Podcast, Hazard categorically disagreed with Ronaldo’s comments, claiming a Saudi club would not be able to beat a Ligue 1 team.
"I'm not agreeing with him but that's just an opinion," Hazard said in response. "If you look at the league in Saudi Arabia, they have big players, it's just that they're not big teams. In France, maybe now they have fewer big players, but they have big teams.
"I'm sure if a Ligue 1 team played against a Saudi Arabian team, they would win. Maybe not easily, like people might think, but the level in France is good. I'm watching their league and they have talent."