Liverpool legend Jamie Carragher fired one final brutal dig towards Cristiano Ronaldo following confirmation of his Al-Nassr move.
The Portuguese forward’s switch to the Saudi outfit was confirmed on Friday evening after he put pen to paper on a record-breaking contract until the summer of 2025. It is the first time that the veteran will play outside of European football in his career, whilst it also brings to an end a glittering career in the Champions League.
Following confirmation of the move, Carragher sent a brutal message towards the 37-year-old regarding his long rivalry with World Cup winner Lionel Messi. The pair have regularly faced off with a debate emerging over who was the better footballer.
Messi earned a huge advantage recently having helped the South Americans to their third title in Qatar, whilst Ronaldo’s Portugal suffered a shock elimination at the hands of Morocco. Speaking to Sky Sports, Carragher said: "In some ways, it's a sad end for him [Ronaldo].
“Two of the greatest players in Messi and Ronaldo - Ronaldo has finished his career during an interview with Piers Morgan and Messi has won the World Cup. It's not the best way to go out."
Carragher was a regular critic of the Portuguese forward during his time at Old Trafford, particularly as relations took a dramatic down-turn after Ronaldo’s explosive interview with Morgan. Following Ronaldo’s claims that he did not feel respected by incoming boss Ten Hag, he took to social media. The ex-Liverpool man wrote: “Ronaldo: ‘I don’t respect the manager’
Did Ronaldo make the right decision to sign for Al-Nassr? Share your thoughts in the comments below
“Ronaldo under ETH: Announced he wanted to leave, refused to come on as a substitute, walked off the bench & left before the game had finished.
“99% of United fans will be on the side of ETH, which shows how badly Ronaldo has handled this.”
In the meantime, the former Liverpool defender also claimed that it was an easy decision for the Red Devils to terminate the remainder of the striker’s contract. “Ronaldo hasn’t changed, he’s always been that sort of character, everyone’s known that – but he was worth the hassle,” he said.
“And that’s like everything in football, when we talk about a manager making a decision, can you put up with that?
“You don’t cut off your nose to spite your face, but when it gets to that stage where you’re thinking ‘this is becoming more of a problem,’ when a manager looks at you as a player, every manager wants the same thing: high performance, low maintenance. That’s it.
“When it starts getting weighted to the high maintenance and the scales are more tilted towards high maintenance, it’s time to go.”
