Al Nassr hope to keep Cristiano Ronaldo for rest of career - sources

Al Nassr hope to keep Cristiano Ronaldo for rest of career - sources

Al Nassr are convinced that Cristiano Ronaldo will end his career with the Saudi Pro League side and have not ruled out extending the striker's mammoth contract, sources have told ESPN.

Ronaldo made his first appearance for Al Nassr in a 1-0 win over Ettifaq on Sunday. He signed a two-and-a-half year deal with the Riyadh-based side worth $200 million a year following his departure from Manchester United in December.

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The Portuguese star will be 40 when his deal ends in 2025 and Al Nassr officials believe it is unlikely that he will play somewhere else before hanging up his boots. Sources have told ESPN that Al Nassr have not ruled out extending Ronaldo's contract if he wants to continue his playing career.

Al Nassr are also using Ronaldo to help them improve off the pitch as well as off it. Sources have told ESPN that Ronaldo arrived in Saudi Arabia with a list of "best practices" which club officials are working to implement.

Al Nassr are determined to use Ronaldo's experience at the top of European football with United, Real Madrid and Juventus to become a powerhouse of Saudi and Asian football, ESPN sources added.

- Dawson: Ronaldo debut brings tricks but no goals

Ronaldo could not mark his Al Nassr debut with a goal against Ettifaq, but manager Rudi Garcia said he was "happy" with the forward's performance as his team returned to the top of the Saudi Pro League.

The former Roma boss insisted it would take time to integrate Ronaldo into the team after only a few weeks of training.

"I told the players they need to make the right choices on the pitch," Garcia said.

"Obviously Cristiano Ronaldo is asking for the ball and we have to give him the ball because he's the player who can make the difference. "We need to work a lot on the positions of everyone. Sometimes we had crosses but not enough people in the box. We need to work on that."

Cristiano Ronaldo shows up for debut with bruise under his eye after being punched

The 37-year-old at long last played in a competitive game for new side Al-Nassr but did so while boasting what looked like a painful black eye after being punched by Keylor Navas

Cristiano Ronaldo was sporting a nasty-looking black eye during his Al-Nassr debut (

Image: Anadolu Agency via Getty Images)

Cristiano Ronaldo finally made his debut for Saudi Arabian outfit Al-Nassr, but did so while sporting a rather painful looking bruise under his eye after being punched during last week's friendly aganist Paris Saint-Germain.

The five-time Ballon d'Or winner at long last donned the blue and yellow strip of his new side to feature in their Saudi Pro League clash against Etiffaq, but the brutal-looking bruise under his left eye was all many could talk about before kick-off.

The injury stemmed from a clash with PSG goalkeeper Keylor Navas, who went to punch the ball during their clash last Thursday but instead caught his former Real Madrid colleague. Though PSG ran out 5-4 winners, Ronaldo did manage to bag two in the contest.

One of his goals came from the penalty spot after the punch in question was deemed a foul by the referee. Ronaldo managed to dust himself off, get up and lash home the penalty, but he still bears the physical impacts of Navas' foul.

Footage of PSG forward Kylian Mbappe laughing and joking with Ronaldo as the Frenchman had a look at the bruise soon did the rounds, with the Portugal skipper clearly in good spirits as he laughed off the injury.

From the 37-year-old's perspective, the friendly marked a mini-reunion with some old faces Ronaldo isn't likely to have seen in a while considering he was at Manchester United from August 2021 before his move to the Middle East this month.

Cristiano Ronaldo suffered a black eye after this clash with Keylor Navas (

Image:

Hussein Malla/AP/REX/Shutterstock)

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He was spotted chatting with another one of his old Los Blancos colleagues in Sergio Ramos in the tunnel ahead of kick-off. It was actually an error from Ramos that allowed Ronaldo to bag his second in the friendly.

Unfortunately, the 37-year-old failed to repeat his goal-scoring heroics on his competitive debut for the club, though Al -Nassr did still run out 1-0 winners thanks to a goal from Anderson Talisca. Worringly, Ronaldo failed to even register a shot on target all game.

Despite having only joined this month, Ronaldo wore the captain's armband.

Ronaldo's debut was an underwhelming one (

Image:

AFP via Getty Images)

There is every chance the former United forward is lifting the Saudi Pro League come the end of the season, with this most recent win keeping Al-Nassr one point clear at the top of the table having played one game less than rivals Al-Hilal.

Ronaldo may feel an extra bit of pressure to achieve big things out in Saudi Arabia considering Al-Nassr were forced to cut ties with former player Vincent Aboubakar to register the five-time Ballon d'Or winner as per Pro League rules that state each club should have no more than eight foreign players registered.