Ronaldo's Saudi game aims to draw eyes to Asian football

When Saudi Arabia club Al-Nassr introduce Cristiano Ronaldo in Riyadh on Tuesday, it will herald a new era in Asian football.

Al-Nassr announced the signing of one of the world's biggest sports stars on social media on Friday. Within 24 hours, the post was viewed more than 20 million times and the club gained around 2.5 million more followers.

A similar increase was seen on Instagram, where the Portuguese star has the largest number of followers, with, more than 520 million amount has in the world.

There, the ad received more than 30 million likes.

"This agreement is more than a new historical chapter," said Al-Nassr President Musalli Al-Muammar. He will present Ronaldo at the club's stadium on Tuesday.

Ronaldo has won five European Champions Leagues with Real Madrid and Manchester United but his controversial second spell at the English club ended after 15 months when he was without trophies and without a title at the bench sat . Contract after early termination.

Al-Nassr, a nine-time Saudi Arabian champion, is already doing well in the middle of the Saudi Professional League.

They took the lead on Saturday after beating Al-Khaleej 1-0 thanks to Cameroonian striker Vincent Aboubaker.

Other names at the club include Colombian goalkeeper David Ospina, ex-Arsenal and Napoli player and South American Players born in 2018 Schade Martinez. Brazilian Anderson Talisca is the top scorer.

Despite so much talent, the league does not have a broad international audience. That could change thanks to Ronaldo, who is said to be earning up to $200 million a year in.

"Everyone knows Ronaldo very well and his achievements as a player speak for themselves," said former Saudi Arabia international Hamad Al-Montashari. "He's an exceptional player and could score a hat-trick in any game."

Had the soon to be 38-year-old superstar left Europe five years ago, China would have been a realistic destination. However, the massive spending wave of the last ten years there has come to an end. With property companies funding much of

's transfer activity, the massive slowdown in China's property market has meant most clubs are struggling to make ends meet.

Guangzhou have won eight Chinese and two Asian titles in the past decade, but with owner Evergrande facing $300 billion in debt in June 2022, the club only had to field a team of young players . The relegation was the result in December.

On Friday, the day Ronaldo's deal was announced in Riyadh, Wuhan Three Towns clinched the Chinese Super League title a round early as opponents Tianjin Tigers were no eleven-man team could set up. due to COVID-19.

Asian football news was overshadowed.