https://arab.news/bb6kx
- Prince Abdulaziz bin Turki Al-Faisal: ‘Happy with the presence of one of the best players in the world to start his new career in Saudi Arabia’
DUBAI: Portuguese superstar Cristiano Ronaldo’s move to Al-Nassr in Saudi Arabia, which the club described as ‘history in the making’, is arguably one of the biggest football news coming from the Kingdom.
Ronaldo’s two-year deal with the Riyadh giants set off a flurry of reactions on social media, particularly among his legion of loyal fans – he has more than 500 million followers on Instagram and 106.5 million followers on Twitter – who applauded his decision to sign up for the Saudi Arabian league.
“History in the making. A very special welcome to Roshn Saudi League for Cristiano Ronaldo! One of football’s greats will be playing at Al-Nassr,” the Saudi Pro League, the Kingdom’s top-flight football league, posted on Twitter in welcoming Ronaldo.
Prince Abdulaziz bin Turki Al-Faisal, president of the Saudi Olympic & Paralympic Committee, tweeted: “Happy with the presence of one of the best players in the world to start his new career in Saudi Arabia. Welcome @Cristiano to the kingdom. And we will hopefully support the rest of our clubs for deals with international stars soon.”
Other prominent personalities also chimed in their welcome to Ronaldo, including Chen Weiqing, China’s ambassador to Saudi Arabia, who tweet in Arabic saying “As a fan of Al-Nassr team, I warmly welcome Cristiano Ronaldo to the team.”
Saudi media personality Abdullah Ben Zanan, posted on Twitter: “The greatest sport deal in the Arab world, the Middle East and Asia. What is happening now is an added value to Saudi sports as a whole. Those with a narrow horizon look at a comprehensive view in order to understand the great event. Congratulations to us as Saudis for having the best striker historically in our league.”
Salman Aldosary, another Saudi media personality with a huge following, said on Twitter that “You don’t have to be a fan of Al-Nassr team in order to be excited about Cristiano Ronaldo attending to the kingdom, as he is one of the best players in history. I understand very much the repercussions of sports competition, and the welcoming of some and the rejection of others, but between these and those we, as Saudis, have to look at the big picture and we will find that the gains are endless.”
Italian football journalist Fabrizio Romano, meanwhile, provided some interesting back story on the Portuguese star’s historic move: “Sporting Kansas City were really trying to sign Cristiano Ronaldo. SKC held a meeting before Morgan interview then one more with concrete talks about the prospects of CR7 playing in Kansas City commercially.”
“Salary package was huge but Ronaldo decided for Al-Nassr move,” the renowned journalist posted on Twitter.
Romano also gave hints about superstar’s potential paycheck for the Saudi team: “Cristiano Ronaldo’s guaranteed football salary at Al-Nassr will be close to $90m per year. Commercial/sponsorship deals (already approved by Cristiano’s camp) will be included in the agreement to bring total salary close to $200m.”
But what may sum up the fans’ excitement on Ronaldo’s move to Saudi Arabia was a tweet from Saudi sport journalist Muath Al-Jandal, who posted on Twitter “URGENT: Fans flock stores to print Cristiano Ronaldo shirts before Al Nasr Club’s official announcement.”