Cristiano Ronaldo has landed in Saudi Arabia ahead of his unveiling at his new club Al-Nassr.
Ronaldo left United in controversial circumstances in November in the fallout of his explosive interview with Piers Morgan. In the lengthy conversation, he criticised the club, its owners and former teammates Wayne Rooney and Gary Neville as well as claiming he did not respect manager Erik ten Hag.
Once the full interview was published, it was then decided by mutual consent to terminate Ronaldo's contract early. The No.7's deal was set to run until the summer at least, with United holding the option to extend it by a further 12 months.
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A lack of Champions League football has also been a bugbear of Ronaldo and his ideal next move would have been to a European side competing in the competition. During the interview, Ronaldo claimed that he did not see money as a contributing factor when moving to a new club. He gave this as a reason for not signing for a Saudi Arabian club in the past.
However, with no other offers forthcoming, Ronaldo reneged on his stance on Friday as he was officially confirmed as a new signing for Al-Nassr, who currently sit top of the Saudi Pro League. He has signed a contract that runs until 2025.
The Portuguese will be officially unveiled at 4pm GMT on Tuesday, January 3 at Mrsool Park and has now arrived in the Middle East ahead of his official presentation. Posts on Al-Nassr's official Instagram account show photographs of Ronaldo waving to supporters, receiving a welcoming gift of flowers and posing with his family.
The captions to the posts read: "After conquering Europe... The iconic star is on a new mission to conquer ASIA!" and "Ladies and Gentlemen, the GOAT @cristiano is here."
Although Ronaldo's career in the European game appears to be over he could face off against his great rival Lionel Messi one final time in a friendly match between Paris Saint-Germain and an Al-Nassr and Al-Hilal combined XI on Thursday, January 19.
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