Cristiano Ronaldo flirted with Real Madrid return before Al Nassr signing

Portuguese superstar Cristiano Ronaldo has come under heavy fire for his signing for Al Nassr in Saudi Arabia, with many feeling that the move itself is hypocritical, given his previous comments. The truth is, it appears Ronaldo had little choice.

Ronaldo’s Manchester United contract was terminated in mid-November, ahead of the World Cup, following his interview with Piers Morgan. He was then part of Portugal’s World Cup campaign. They were knocked out of the tournament around a month after that, and nearly three weeks passed between his departure from Qatar and Ronaldo’s signing with Al Nassr.

It is thought, according to Relevo, that he was biding his time in wait of a call from a European side. Agent Jorge Mendes approached Paris Saint-Germain and Sporting CP, but no offer was forthcoming.

However his greatest hope of a call was from Real Madrid, where Ronaldo enjoyed his most successful era. It was no coincidence that Ronaldo returned to Madrid to train as a free agent, allowing himself to be seen at Valdebebas. It was a meditated move designed to build up a clamour from the fans and put him at the forefront of Florentino Perez’s mind.

Perez has of course referred to Ronaldo as ‘an idiot’ in the past, while he was off the record, meaning an olive branch was perhaps unlikely to come.

Ronaldo’s interview was deliberately designed to extract him from Manchester United, but clearly he did not expect it to taint his value on the market to such a large degree. Given the chance, it is worth wondering whether he would do it all again.