Following Portugal’s World Cup exit at the hands of Morocco in the quarter-finals, Cristiano Ronaldo will begin planning his next move after having his Manchester United contract terminated before he flew out to Qatar. The 37-year-old insisted that he would only consider his next club after the World Cup, following speculation that he was close to signing a big deal with Saudi Arabian side Al Nassr.
The club had reportedly offered Ronaldo a staggering £173m-a-season to make the move to the Middle East, as he had struggled to attract any attention from clubs in the Champions League. However, there does now appear to be another option outside of Saudi Arabia that has offered Ronaldo the chance to join his next club.
Portuguese outlet Report claim that a team from the Qatar Stars League has offered Ronaldo the chance to join them with a second huge offer. The report claims that Ronaldo is studying his options alongside Antero Henrique, which would be an advantage to Qatar as he is also the sporting director of the league.
Ronaldo’s agent Jorge Mendes had been leading negotiations with Al Nassr according to the report, but his relationship with the five-time Ballon d’Or winner has become strained, which could play into the hands of the Qatari club.
Cristiano Ronaldo may have a second offer in addition to Saudi Arabian club Al Nassr. (Image: Getty)
The Portugal captain had previously dismissed the idea that he was close to signing with the Saudi Arabian giants at the World Cup. After he was dropped by national team boss Fernando Santos in the 6-1 last-16 win over Switzerland, Ronaldo rubbished the claims that he was set to join Al Nassr. “No, that’s not true - not true,” he told reporters after the game.
Ronaldo took to Instagram after Portugal’s 1-0 defeat to Morocco, but did not speculate on his future for club or country. "Winning a World Cup for Portugal was the biggest and most ambitious dream of my career,” he wrote.
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“Fortunately I won many titles of international dimension, including Portugal, but putting our country's name on the highest foot in the world was my biggest dream.
"I fought for it. I fought hard for this dream. In the five times I scored in World Cups over 16 years, always by the side of great players and supported by millions of Portuguese, I gave my all. Leave it all out on the field. I never turned my face to the fight and I never gave up on that dream.
"Sadly yesterday the dream ended. It's not worth reacting to heat. I just want you all to know that much has been said, much has been written, much has been speculated, but my dedication to Portugal has not changed, not for a moment. I was always one fighting for the objective of all and I would never turn my back on my colleagues and my country."