Al-Nassr president tries to cool off reports of Ronaldo imminently signing

Al-Nassr president Musli Al-Muammar has played down reports of Cristiano Ronaldo being on the cusp of completing his mega £173million-a-year move to the Saudi club, insisting claims in Spain are 'mostly a lie'.

Spanish news outlet Marca have been reporting that Ronaldo is edging closer to finalising the money-spinning move to the Middle East after he had his Manchester United contract terminated last month following his bombshell interview with Piers Morgan – where he criticised the club and manager Erik ten Hag.

CBS Sports also claimed on Monday that a medical had been booked for Ronaldo at Al-Nassr and the Saudi club were growing in confidence that he will choose to join them.

However, with reports on a move for Ronaldo ramping up, Al-Muammar looked to address reports and claim how what has been written in Spain was 'mostly a lie'.

'[Reports on] Ronaldo are not right and most of what has been written and said in the [Spanish] media is a lie', Al-Muammar said after Al-Nassr's 2-2 draw with Al Hilal.

Ronaldo is set to earn $75m-a-year (£62m) if he takes Al-Nassr's offer, while image rights and other endorsements could see this figure rise considerably to around £173m-a-year.

As well as becoming Saudi Arabian football's biggest star on the pitch, Ronaldo is also due to have a major role off the pitch if he accepts Al-Nassr's offer.

He will reportedly be given a role in appointing the team's manager if he wishes.

Al-Nassr are currently managed by Rudi Garcia, who previously coached Lille, Roma and Marseille during his time in Europe.

Ronaldo has had a difficult end to 2022 after falling out of favour at Old Trafford before departing the club for the second time.

The World Cup in Qatar also didn't go to plan for him as he scored just once from the penalty spot, and was dropped for Portugal's last-16 and quarter-final clashes by manager Fernando Santos.

Portugal lost in the last-eight against Morocco, with Ronaldo leaving the pitch in tears in what is likely to have been his final World Cup.

He then had to watch his long-term rival Lionel Messi go on to win the tournament with Argentina the following week.

Ronaldo has been assessing his options before deciding his club future as he waited to see whether a European club would come in for him.

However, his chances of staying in Europe appear to have been decreasing by the day, and he now looks to be on the verge of moving to Saudi Arabia instead.