Portugal captain Cristiano Ronaldo has joined Saudi Arabian club Al Nassr on a 2-1/2 year contract, the club announced on Friday, after leaving Manchester United to become a free agent.
Ronaldo departed Old Trafford last month following an explosive television interview in which the 37-year-old forward said he felt betrayed by the club and did not respect their Dutch manager Erik ten Hag.
Al Nassr issued a statement saying the five-time Ballon D’or winner will join on a deal until 2025 but did not disclose any financial details. Ronaldo’s contract has been estimated by media to be worth more than 200 million euros ($214.04 million).
Let’s look at Ronaldo’s career:
EARLY DAYS
* Born Feb. 5, 1985, in Funchal, Madeira.
* Plays youth team football at Nacional before joining Sporting in 2002.
MANCHESTER UNITED (2003-09)
* United manager Alex Ferguson signs the 18-year-old for 12.24 million pounds ($14.80 million) in August 2003.
* In 2006-07, United win the title and Ronaldo is named England’s Footballer of the Year.
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* Celebrates League and Champions League double in the 2007-08 season, finishing as Europe’s top scorer with 42 goals.
* Caps 2008 season by winning the Ballon d’Or.
* In 2008-09, helps United to the Premier League title and League Cup.
* Scores 118 goals in 291 appearances for United.
REAL MADRID (2009-18)
* Signs for 80 million pounds from United in 2009, a world record fee at the time.
* Scores 46 goals in the 2011-12 LaLiga season as Real win the title.
* Scores a record 17 goals in the Champions League in 2013-14 as Real secure a 10th European title.
* Scores the decisive spot kick in penalty shootout against Atletico to give Real their 11th Champions League title in 2016.
* Wins the Ballon d’Or in 2013, 2014, 2016 and 2017.
* Finishes as Real Madrid’s all-time top scorer with 451 goals.
JUVENTUS (2018-21)
* Signs for the Turin club in July 2018 for a reported fee of 100 million euros, the highest ever for a player over 30.
* Scores 21 goals as Juve win their eighth consecutive Scudetto, thereby becoming the first player to win league titles in England, Spain and Italy.
* Comes in third place for the 2019 Best FIFA Men’s Player Award, behind Lionel Messi and Liverpool’s Virgil van Dijk.
* Nets 31 times to finish as the second highest goalscorer in the 2019-20 Serie A season as Juventus again win the title.
* Juve, however, get knocked out by Olympique Lyonnais in the round of 16 in the Champions League.
* Wins the Serie A golden boot for 2020-21 with 29 goals but the Italian giants fail to win the league, finishing fourth.
* Finishes with 101 goals in 134 games across all competitions.
MANCHESTER UNITED (2021-22)
* Re-signs for the Premier League club in August 2021 for a fee of 15 million euros plus eight million euros in performance-related add-ons.
* Becomes the first player to score in five consecutive Champions League matches in a single season for an English club.
* Reaches 807 goals to become top scorer in professional football history
* Manchester United get knocked out by Atletico Madrid in the round of 16 in the Champions League and finish sixth in Premier League.
* Nets 18 times to become the third-highest Premier League goalscorer.
* Scores 24 goals across all competitions to become the team’s top scorer for the season.
* Wins the Manchester United Sir Matt Busby Player of the Year award.
* Ends the season trophyless for the first time since the 2009-10 campaign.
PORTUGAL (2003-)
* Makes Portugal debut in August 2003.
* Helps side to runners-up spot at Euro 2004.
* Portugal is eliminated from the 2010 World Cup by Spain in the last 16.
* Portugal goes out in the group stage at the 2014 World Cup with Ronaldo clearly struggling with injury.
* In 2016, helps Portugal win their first European title as they beat France 1-0 in the final.
* Captains Portugal to victory over the Netherlands in the 2018-19 Nations League final.
* Scores against France at Euro 2020, equaling former Iran captain Ali Daei’s international record of 109 goals.
* Wins the Euro 2020 Golden Boot with five goals and one assist.
* In September 2021 surpasses Daei’s record after scoring twice against Ireland in the World Cup qualifiers.
* Plays his fifth World Cup with Portugal at Qatar 2022
* Becomes the first player to score in five World Cups after netting a penalty against Ghana in a Group H match.
* Portugal gets knocked out of the World Cup in the quarterfinals by Morocco.
