CRISTIANO RONALDO was hopeful of returning to Real Madrid before completing his move to Al-Nassr.
The superstar’s transfer to the Saudi Arabian club was confirmed on Friday.
He was first contacted by Al-Nassr after his blockbuster interview with SunSport columnist Piers Morgan last month.
But after the World Cup Ronaldo returned to Madrid and even trained with Los Blancos.
He remained hopeful of being offered a deal by the LaLiga champions – and according to Marca he waited for a call never came.
That left Ronaldo with little option but to join Al-Nassr, with no top European club interested in signing the striker.
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Ronaldo played for Real between 2009-2018 and scored 450 goals in 438 games.
And his affiliation with the Spanish giants prevented him from joining rivals Atletico Madrid in the summer.
Fans protested his transfer with United ultimately deciding to hang onto the Portuguese until his exit in November.
Ronaldo put pen to paper on a two-and-a-half-year deal with Al Nassr worth £173m a year.
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And his sister Katia Aveiro has tipped him for great things once more, saying: “Pride of my life… to make history once more.”
But some fans have criticised and mocked Ronaldo after watching a clip of the 37-year-old saying he “wants to finish at the top level.”
Source: Soccer - thesun.co.uk
