What caused Ronaldo's Saudi rift?

Summary

The Athletic FC Podcast — Detailed Episode Summary

Episode: What caused Ronaldo's Saudi rift?
Date: February 10, 2026
Host: Ayo Akinwolere
Guests: James Horncastle, Oli Kay, Felipe Cardenas

---

Main Theme

This episode investigates the turmoil surrounding Cristiano Ronaldo's current spell with Al Nassr in the Saudi Pro League, exploring the reasons behind his dissatisfaction, what it reveals about the league and Saudi football ambitions, and what the future holds for one of football’s all-time greats. The discussion considers Ronaldo’s on- and off-pitch influence, the structure of Saudi football, the global impact of his decisions, and realistic prospects for the next steps in his career.

---

Key Discussion Points & Insights

1. Ronaldo’s Rift with Al Nassr

• Recent Exclusion:
  • Ronaldo has been left out of Al Nassr’s matchday squad for two games due to discontent with club management ([02:37]).
• Transfer Market Discontent:
  • Main issue: dissatisfaction with Al Nassr’s lack of ambition in the recent transfer window, referencing the club's aggressive spending the previous season ([02:58]).
  • "Ronaldo was apparently not very impressed with what Al Nassr did or didn't do in the January transfer window..." — Ayo Akinwolere ([02:58])
• Desire to Win:
  • Despite legacy being secure, Ronaldo’s hunger for trophies in Saudi remains real, though so far, he has only won the Arab Champions Cup in four years ([03:44]).

2. The Structure and Ownership of Saudi Clubs

• PIF Influence & Operational Inequality:
  • Al Nassr (and the three other top clubs) are majority owned by the Saudi Public Investment Fund (PIF), leading to questions of resource allocation and fairness ([05:11]).
  • Ronaldo’s frustration linked to a perception that Al Hilal (where Benzema now plays) receives more support ([05:13]).
  • "It's mad to have the four biggest clubs in the country effectively being state owned." — Oli Kay ([05:51])
• Multi-Club Ownership Ethics:
  • Discussion on whether Ronaldo’s protest is about competitive fairness or special treatment ([05:51]).
  • Suggestion that his influence at Al Nassr, including friends in management roles, has not delivered desired results in squad building ([07:30]).

3. Saudi Ambitions and Football's Place in National Plans

• Vision 2030:
  • PIF projects (like NEOM city) represent wider ambitions beyond football; spending strategies are influenced by oil prices and national priorities ([09:29]).
  • Change in strategy: moving from superstar signings to sustainable growth through younger talent ([10:02]).
• Perceived Legacy:
  • Despite big-names arriving and record salaries, local fan engagement is lacking. Attendance at games is lower than expected, in part because of high ticket prices ([13:56]) and lack of a fan boom.
  • "There hasn't been this absolute explosion of interest in Al Nassr in Saudi Arabia." — Oli Kay ([13:56])

4. Ronaldo’s Power, Influence, and On-Pitch Value

• Financial Dominance:
  • Ronaldo earns approximately €175 million a year; his wage bill constrains squad-building options ([13:13]).
  • "That's just over £480,000 a day, Ollie… around 3.37 million a week." — James Horncastle ([13:13])
• Club Built Around Ronaldo:
  • Al Nassr tailored to him, hiring his former associates, giving him exceptional influence—possibly too much ([11:55]).
  • Discussion on whether this power imbalance is sustainable for sporting success.
• Legacy Beyond the Pitch:
  • Raised league’s profile internationally, but impact on local footballing culture and club success is debated ([25:55]).
  • "He has brought a real value to the Saudi League and to Saudi Arabia, no doubt about that." — Oli Kay ([13:56])

5. Ronaldo Fatigue & Evolving Narrative

• Off-Pitch Celebrity:
  • Increasingly, Ronaldo is recognized more for his media appearances, business ventures, and proximity to power than for footballing exploits ([18:43], [19:07]).
  • "He's crossed that threshold now where he's famous for being famous." — James Horncastle ([20:38])
• Declining On-Pitch Impact:
  • While goal tallies remain staggering for his age, major club or international successes have waned since leaving Real Madrid ([22:47]).
  • Still exceptional at scoring against lower-level opponents, but less decisive in top competitions ([24:00]).

6. Possible Futures for Ronaldo

• MLS Move?
  • Highly unlikely; only Inter Miami could theoretically afford him, but sharing a team with Messi is seen as implausible ([29:11]).
  • "A lot of MLS teams ...want to move away from signing the player that is in the twilight of their career." — Felipe Cardenas ([29:11])
• Return to Sporting Lisbon?
  • Considered romantic, but his wage demands and buyout clause are major obstacles ([30:43]).
  • Ongoing arbitration for unpaid wages at Juventus signals his high earning expectations ([30:50]).
• Prolonged Career?
  • Speculation on whether Ronaldo will play until 43 or further. Motivation seems partly about chasing records—a "thousand goals" ambition ([33:27]).
  • At some point, the business side will overtake his playing career: "I suspect at some point he's going to think, no, I'll just be Cristiano Ronaldo businessman, an influencer..." — Oli Kay ([33:27])

7. Saudi Arabia, the World Cup & Ronaldo’s Endgame

• Key Figure in 2030 World Cup Bid:
  • Ronaldo is a marketing face for the Saudi bid (and Benzema), conferring football legitimacy ([36:59]).
• International Career Outlook:
  • Portugal likely to use him in group matches, where he racks up goals, but he becomes less effective against stronger opposition ([40:11]).
  • "There’s almost nobody better at scoring loads of goals against limited opposition ... Portugal needed to find a way to play without him." — Oli Kay ([40:11])

---

Notable Quotes & Memorable Moments

• "Ronaldo was apparently not very impressed with what Al Nassr did or didn't do in the January transfer window."
  — Ayo Akinwolere ([02:58])

• "It's mad to have the four biggest clubs in the country effectively being state owned."
  — Oli Kay ([05:51])

• "He has brought a real value to the Saudi League and to Saudi Arabia, no doubt about that ... but whether it works as a football project, I would say not."
  — Oli Kay ([13:56])

• "He's crossed that threshold now where he's famous for being famous ... He's not famous for being a football player in the way that he was."
  — James Horncastle ([20:38])

• "I think he's the best 41 year old footballer I've ever seen. He's an absolute phenomenon … but when it's come to the big tournaments ... it looked like he was a bit of a dead weight."
  — Oli Kay ([24:00])

• "I think he wants to score a thousand goals. That's been suggested to me. ... But I don’t see him playing at the start of the 2027/28 season. I'd be surprised."
  — Oli Kay ([33:27])

• "He is still a competitor who clearly loves football, regardless of what competition or league or country he's playing in. And he wants to win this great competition known as the Saudi Pro League."
  — Ayo Akinwolere ([05:11])

---

Important Timestamps

• 02:37 — Why Ronaldo has been dropped & squad tensions explained
• 05:11 — Structure of Saudi club ownership, Ronaldo’s dissatisfaction with operational support
• 13:13 — Ronaldo’s salary and its implications for club spending
• 13:56 — Assessment of Ronaldo’s impact on local Saudi fan culture and attendances
• 18:43 — Discussion on “Ronaldo fatigue” and the shift in his public perception
• 29:11 — Possibility of MLS move, with Felipe Cardenas’ analysis
• 30:43 — Romantic prospect of return to Sporting Lisbon and the challenges
• 33:27 — Motivation: Chasing 1,000 goals and his future as a businessman
• 36:59 — Ronaldo’s role in Saudi Arabia’s World Cup PR efforts
• 40:11 — Portugal’s reliance on Ronaldo in group games vs knockout stages

---

Conclusion

The episode offers a nuanced look at Ronaldo's current frustrations in Saudi Arabia, placing them in a wider context of football, business, and Saudi national ambitions. While Ronaldo's sporting influence remains immense, his power, celebrity, and commercial pull bring as many complexities as they do opportunities. His future appears uncertain—a mix of footballing ambition, personal legacy-building, and inevitable transition into post-playing stardom.

---

For anyone unfamiliar with the current state of Ronaldo's career, this episode contextualizes his unique position as an aging superstar, a global brand, and a pivotal cog in the machinery of Saudi Arabia’s sporting and cultural ambitions. The discussion leaves listeners pondering not just where Ronaldo will go next, but what he ultimately represents for the sport in this new era.

Transcript

[Ayo Akimwaleere]

Thy ticket, lady Jennifer of Coolidge.

[Jennifer]

Well, many thanks, good sir. Here is my Discover card. They accept Discover at Renaissance Fairs? Yeah, they do here. Discover is accepted at the places I love to shop. Get it with the times.

[Ayo Akimwaleere]

With the times.

[Jennifer]

You're playing the loot. Yeah, and it sounds pretty good, right?

[James Horncastle]

Discover is accepted at 99% of places that take credit cards nationwide, based on.

[Ayo Akimwaleere]

The February 2025 Nielsen report.

[Jennifer]

As a small business owner, you don't really get to clock out early. Your business is on your mind 24 7. So when it's time to hire, you need a partner that works just as hard as you do. That partner is LinkedIn. Jobs. When you clock out, LinkedIn clocks in. It's super easy to post your job for free, share it with your network and manage qualified candidates all in one place. LinkedIn can even help you write your job description and get it in front of the right people. And promoted jobs get three times more qualified applicants. 72% of small businesses say LinkedIn helps them find higher quality candidates. And you can double your reach just by adding the hashtag hiringframe to your profile photo. Find out why more than 2.5 million small businesses use LinkedIn for hiring. Post your job for free at LinkedIn.com jobsearch that's LinkedIn.com J-O B, S, E, A, R, C, H. Terms and conditions apply.

[Ayo Akimwaleere]

Work moves fast. Every email report and proposal counts. That's where Grammarly comes in. It's your one place to think, write and finish. Grammarly's AI agents help you find natural phrasing, fine tune tone and confidently write wherever you work. It's the premier writing tool that 93% of users trust to get more work done. In a world of generic AI don't sound like everyone else. With Grammarly, you never will. Download Grammarly for [e-mail].

[James Horncastle]

The Athletic FC welcome to the Athletic FC podcast with me, Ayo Akimwaleere. At 41, Cristiano Ronaldo is still making headlines. This time he's falling out with Club Al Nassr. So why is he unhappy? And what does the future hold for the five time Ballon d' or winner? All right, with me in the studio, we've got James Horncastle.

[Ayo Akimwaleere]

Hello.

[James Horncastle]

And we've also got Oly Kay as well. Right, James Ronaldo has been left out of the matchday squad for Al Nassr in the last two matches following a disagreement over how the club is being managed currently, though reports do suggest that he could returned to the fold this week. All right, Realist back on this one, what's going on here? And can you just clarify what's happening with Ronaldo?

[Ayo Akimwaleere]

Well, I mean, the January transfer window has just closed. That's why David Ornstein isn't with us. He has been allowed to go on holiday. But Ronaldo was apparently not very impressed with what Al Nassr did or didn't do in the January transfer window, which was sign players like they did last year when they spent, I think nearly 80 million on John Duran from Aston Villa. And, you know, I think while many people would look at this and say, hang on a minute, Cristiano, whether you win the Saudi Pro League or the AFC Champions League, it's not going to move the needle in terms of how your legacy is considered on the football pitch. He still clearly cares about his team being competitive in those competitions, about winning something more than the, I think the Arab Champions cup, which is the only trophy he's won in what, the four years that he has been out in Saudi. And, you know, over the weekend, there were a couple of things that happened to me which made me sort of rethink this and be sympathetic towards the highest paid football player.

[James Horncastle]

I mean, we'll go into the numbers later, but I don't know how sympathetic it becomes.

[Ayo Akimwaleere]

I watched Marty supreme with Timothee Chalamet and I was reminded that Chalamet's character in there, Marty Mauser, has this kind of Ronaldo like, determination to be the absolute best at whatever he's doing, whether it be ping pong or football, even.

[James Horncastle]

When he's discounted as, like, not eligible to play.

[Ayo Akimwaleere]

Yeah. And then the other thing is, is like Lindsey Vonn, a lot of people going into the Winter Olympics were like, why is Lindsey von, at 41, having torn her ACL a week ago? Why is she bothering to turn up for this competition? And as she put in her Instagram post before that ill fated run that she went on, she was like, people think it's about commercial reasons, all this kind of thing. It's just because I absolutely love ski racing. And I think, say what you like about Ronaldo. I mean, he is still a competitor who clearly loves football, regardless of what competition or league or country he's playing in. And he wants to win this great competition known as the Saudi Pro League.

[James Horncastle]

Okay, fair enough. We'll talk more about that in a second. So, Oli, we need to reiterate that Al Nassr, alongside Al Ittihad and also Al Ahi and also Al Hilal are majority owned by Saudi Arabia Public investment Fund, which many people might know as PIF, which has a 75% stake in each club. We've reported that Ronaldo's frustrations aren't just about Benzema, who has now signed for Al Hilal. He believes the club is not being supported operationally and financially as well. Ronaldo's protestations are also about defending the club's interests and wanting equal treatment. Oli, does he have a point?

[Oli Kay]

It would be funny, wouldn't it, if this was being framed as a discussion about multi club ownership and the ethics of having four clubs in one league under one ownership, which also happens to be the public investment fund of Saudi Arabia, which is mad, isn't it? It really is mad to have to have those purely in football terms. It's mad to have the four biggest clubs in the country effectively being state owned. And I know there is a the intention is to that they'll end up being sold on for great profit and go into private ownership. But it's a mad situation and it shows that in any multi club arrangement somebody's going to come off worse. You know, you can't just have the four parties or however many parties it might be in a typical multi club network being treated equally or if they are, I mean, Cristiano Ronaldo appears to be looking at this, saying that they are treated poorly compared to Al Hilal, who are top of the league by a point. But Al Nassr have the most highly paid player in the world. His contract is eating up a huge amount of their budget. They've also got Joao Felix, Kingsley Coman, Marcelo Brozovic, Sadio Mane. It's not like there is an awful lot of money being spent. I don't know whether Cristiano Roaldo would advocate them spending more money, but if this was in Europe, there would be questions about financial fair play, compliance and that kind of thing. But it's not really about all of that kind of thing, is it? It's not about the ethics of multi club ownership. It's certainly not about the ethics of playing in Saudi Arabia or being owned by the state of Saudi Arabia effectively. It's about the issue of whether he feels that they're competitive within the league. But it's also about the fact that Ronaldo, since he's been at Al Nassr, has had two associates of his, good friends of his who have been involved in the running of the club and one of them chief executive. And I think they feel that they're or he feels that their influence hasn't been what it might have Been over the last transfer window, say. One unconfirmed rumor I heard was that he, Ronaldo had proposed three particular signings in the January transfer window and none of them had happened. So I don't know. That's the kind of information that we've found it very hard to sort of double source. It's difficult to get a lot of this information verified. But yeah, Ronaldo seems to feel that his position, partly through the influence of his sort of mates in the management setup, hasn't really been respected. And I think that that's an awful lot of it. And then we've heard in the reports that have suggested he will come back into the fold on Saturday, there have been reports about sort of monies not being paid. Whether that's to players or staff, I don't know. It's all quite murky and it's a strange situation. But yeah, it does seem like if things were slightly different, this would be one of the most famous sports person on the planet standing up against the inconsistencies and inequalities of multi club ownership. But it's not that at all, is it?

[James Horncastle]

Yeah, James, if this is strictly just about the football and staying competitive, I mean, Piff have got what, four clubs in the Saudi pro league. Also think about Newcastle in the Premier League. You also think about a wider fund that is there to reshape the narrative around Saudi Arabia, whether it be sport, infrastructure, the law. I mean, there's a lot of money to be spent here, not just on football.

[Ayo Akimwaleere]

Yeah. I mean these infrastructure projects that Piff has been involved in as part of Mohammed bin Salman, the Crown Prince's Vision 2030 to kind of diversify the Saudi economy away from oil dependence are massive. You know, I mean, there's been a lot of attention placed on them building this city in the desert neom and you know, how much capital that has led to being deployed and you know, whether they're having to scale that back, change it, whatever. Because you know, ultimately Saudi Arabia, like any country, is particularly with that dependence on oil that I've mentioned, you know, whether the oil price is up or down, you know, it does have an impact on what they're able to spend on and what they're able to not spend on. I would imagine that having embarked on this, I don't want to call it a startup Saudi pro league because there was already a strong tradition of football and a following there prior to Cristiano Ronaldo moving to Al Nasser four years ago. But if you call it a restart, if you like, Then the investment that they made in those first two, three transfer windows, you could see that they would think, okay, we've got this thing going now. And there has been a change of strategy which has been articulated by the CEO of the Saudi Pro League, which is to, yes, where they can retain star players, big name established players, superstars who've already been and done great things in the game, but also to sign young up and coming players in an effort to make football sustainable there. I don't know if it ever will in the short term, but certainly, I mean, some of the signings that Al Nassr have made last year, John Durant, John Durant at the age that he is at, should not necessarily be playing Saudi Pro League or where he's been since Turkish Super League and now Russian, Russian Premier League. But there's been a conscious effort to bring in the best up and coming young Brazilian players who have not gone to the likes of Real Madrid or Chelsea. And there's been lavish money spent on those players as well. So, you know, it's not the public investment fund for football. It's got a much wider remit. And as I think Newcastle United fans have seen within PSR or the squad cost rule, they have to be circumspect in how they spend their money. And so, yeah, let's see how this thing resolves itself. But I think, as Oli has said, I mean, I think they've tried to do everything possible to make Ronaldo feel happy, not only personally but professionally, by hiring the guy who was his roommate at Sporting's academy as the chief executive and one of the most prominent Portuguese agents as a sporting director. I mean, it feels like that club has been tailor made in some respects for Ronaldo. And the problem he always finds himself in, I think since he left Real Madrid, is that you've mentioned the salary. The expense of just having Cristiano Ronaldo on your team means that that team, be it Juventus, be it Manchester United in his second spell, be it Al Nassanal, relatively limited in how they can build the team around him. And I'm sure that can be frustrating for Cristiano, but maybe if he took a salary cut, all he would have to do is reduce his salary to 100 million a year instead of 175.

[James Horncastle]

Million dol into we're reporting 175 million a year, Ollie. That's just over £480,000 a day, Ollie. Sounds pretty similar to your paycheck, but that's around 3.37 million a week. I Mean, the return the team have got though Is he scored 111 goals in 127 matches as the club captain as well. I mean, the thing is, something James has just said just got me thinking. The money's one thing, bringing all his friends along with him is another. Is this just a problem that they've given him a bit too much power, a bit too much money? Therefore he feels impulse to basically say what he wants to say.

[Oli Kay]

You know, a player the size of Cristiano, which, in terms of, in terms of profile, I mean, he's bigger than Messi, he's bigger than any other player really, in terms of, in terms of global profile. I think you bring somebody like that to a league where it feels like, and it has felt like from the start like the whole league was being built around him and that everything else, you know, he was going to be this trailblazer and everybody was all these great players were going to follow in his path. Which, you know, a lot of, a lot of great players have. There have been really, you know, you think of the likes of Benzema Ballon d'Or winner and Sadio Mane, you know, was great players of the last 10 years or so, that there are great players in Saudi Arabia and whether they would be there without him, I don't know. Probably not. So he has, he has brought a real value to the Saudi League and to Saudi Arabia, no doubt about that. You look at all the sort of videos he does and he's a very influential guy. But whether it works as a football project, I would say not. They were top of the league when he signed, sort of halfway through the 20, 22, 23 season. They didn't win the league that season, they haven't won the league in the season since. And one thing that really surprised me when I was looking at this last week, because I saw the highlights from the game where there was a sort of protest. Not protest, you couldn't protest, could you, in Saudi Arabia. But there was this show of solidarity with Cristiano Roaldo, with people holding up sort of number sevens in the crowd and I thought, gosh, there are a lot of empty seats in a fairly small sort of championship sized stadium, 25,000 capacity stadium. And I looked at the stadium and it was, you know, the Official attendance was 24 and a half thousand. It was, didn't look like 24,500 stadium. But when I look back at the previous couple of weeks, there were 10,000 empty seats for the stadiums to be barely half full for their previous two games when Ronaldo's been playing. So there isn't this, you know, you might see people in parks in London and all over the UK and all over America and wherever else, certainly in Portugal, wearing Al Nassr shirts like you do into Miami shirts. But there hasn't been this absolute explosion of interest in Al Nassr in Saudi Arabia. They're playing in front of small crowds. I know, and I know they have priced a lot of people out of, out of going to the, to these games by setting the tickets a lot, some of the ticket prices so high. But that really surprises me that there has been, the attendances haven't really picked up more than they have. So I don't know, I don't know what, what, you know, when Ronaldo goes away, what legacy he will leave behind in terms of Al Nassr and in terms of Saudi football in that respect. There has been a movement of, of players, but whether it's really created that sort of or added to that feel of match going football fans in a country which is football mad, I don't know.

[Ayo Akimwaleere]

This is the Athletic FC podcast with IO Akimolere.

[Jennifer]

Oh, could this vintage store be any cuter?

[Oli Kay]

Right?

[Jennifer]

And the best part, they accept Discover. Except Discovery in a little place like this? I don't think so, Jennifer. Oh yeah, huh? Discover's accepted where I like to shop. Come on, baby, get with the times. Right, so we shouldn't get the parachute pants. These are making a comeback, I think.

[James Horncastle]

Discover is accepted at 99% of places that take credit cards nationwide, based on.

[Ayo Akimwaleere]

The February 2025 Nielsen report.

[Oli Kay]

Time is valuable.

[Felipe Cardenas]

That's why Lowe's blueprint takeoffs turn blueprints into quotes faster. Bring us your plans and we'll generate itemized material lists to make quoting easier so you can get back to building.

[Ayo Akimwaleere]

Plus, at the Lowes Pro desk, you.

[Felipe Cardenas]

Get access to thousands of building materials not sold in store.

[Ayo Akimwaleere]

And when your order's ready, we'll deliver.

[Felipe Cardenas]

Everything to the job site.

[Ayo Akimwaleere]

Improving is easy at Lowe's. The day begins at the Chase Sapphire Lounge by the club. At Boston Logan Airport, you get the clam chowder. In San Diego, it's Tostadas New York. Espresso martini. It's 10am why not? It's the quiet before your next flight. The shower that resets your day, the menu that lets you know where you are. This is access to over 1300 airport lounges and every Sapphire Lounge by the club. And one card that gets you in Chase Sapphire Reserve. Now even more reverse rewarding. Learn [e-mail] Sapphire Reserve cards issued by JP Morgan, Chase bank and a member FDIC subject to credit approval.

[James Horncastle]

In your piece, James, I wonder if this links to what Ollie's just said. You. You spoke about Ronaldo fatigue and I think we're in a stage now where he's known probably more for what he does off the pitch than what he's doing on it. Not to say he's not still scoring goals. We've seen it for Portugal and we obviously seen it for his team in the Saudi pro league. But is there something to that?

[Ayo Akimwaleere]

I mean, I had a moment of self doubt when I wrote that because it's not. I'm tired of talking about Ronaldo, but we seem to have the same conversation about Ronaldo, the football player. How much his desire to carry on playing is to reach a thousand goals. And often, yeah, it seems like self is put before side, you know, when it comes to wherever he's been. Like you mentioned, he scored more than 100 goals. I remember that being something that was celebrated at Juventus. It's like, well, yeah, but what has he really done for Juventus? He was signed to win the Champions League. They've gone out in a round earlier every year that he's been at the club. And I think it's become less and less about the football. You know, I think he was signed by Saudi Arabia and he's been paid, I mean, those reported figures of 175 million a year, I mean, that's, that's more than double. That's two and a half what he was being paid, you know, by, by, by Juventus. So I don't think they necessarily need to pay him that. But why are they paying it? It's not just for those goals that aren't winning leagues or Asian champions leagues. It's. It's because he's part of an economic plan within Saudi Arabia to make it a media, sport and entertainment hub. It seems more people are interested in, in Riyadh season and the boxing matches that they put on in Saudi, which do sell out or the Royal Rumble, than they are in going to these football games, as Oli said.

[James Horncastle]

You can understand though, those are one off events. Football is week in, week out, you know.

[Ayo Akimwaleere]

Yeah, and I suppose this is the other thing with him. He has a proximity to power that no one else in that league has. You know, he calls Mohammed bin Salman boss and will go as part of a Saudi delegation, I think the first one in seven years to the White House as a guest of Saudi Arabia and obviously a guest of The US President, Donald Trump. So, yeah, that's in terms of the Ronaldo fatigue for me, he's crossed that threshold now where he's famous for being famous. He's not famous for being a football player in the way that he was, the way that he built his legend doing that. And he seems to delight in this. He seems to be. I'm the first footballer billionaire. That seems to matter to him. And it seems to matter to him that he feels that if he was on a beach in Brazil with David Beckham, more people on the beach would recognize him than they would David Beckham. That seems to be the metrics by which he now measures himself. I think that's why I, when I wrote that piece, I posed the question, what's the last memorable Ronaldo goal you can remember? And for me, maybe it's because I was actively covering Juventus. There are a couple goals he scored for Juventus, but I think ones that have really transcended whatever league you report on, whatever the club you're looking at day to day. It's years since he scored a goal that really captured the imagination.

[James Horncastle]

Yeah. I do wonder if there's a. There's a conversation like James has just pointed out, as to whether or not all the money spent on Ronaldo actually makes certain teams that he goes to better or worse or actually achieve where they. What they need to over time. Ollie. But, you know, at 41 years old, I've got to say he's still scoring goals. But for the layman who's not a Ronaldo fan through and through, you probably know more about Ronaldo now, sitting on the same tables as Infantino, Donald Trump and big celebrities, more than the goals in many respects. If you're not watching the Saudi pro league week in, week out, which, you.

[Oli Kay]

Know, people generally aren't, but I don't know. I would slightly disagree with the idea that he's more well known for any of those things. I think you probably have to be sort of very much in the kind of football and football celebrity bubble to know much about him being in summits with Mohammed bin Salman and Donald Trump and that kind of thing. I certainly agree with James that in terms of his absolute relevance to the mainstream conversation and mainstream events in football, the peak years were it's probably a decade ago. I mean, he won the last of his Ballon D' or in 2017. I think he was Champions League leading scorer for the last time in 27, 8, 2017, 18. So, you know, that's. That's eight years ago. And Juventus wasn't an enormous success. It worked in a short term, in a short term way. Manchester United wasn't a success. Al Nassr hasn't been a success on the pitch. But what he's continued to do over that, this sort of period of extended, well, no slow decline, but decline from an incredible height, is continue scoring goals at an enormous rate, which he's done in the Saudi Pro league. Not helped a team win the league or the Asian Champions League, but you know, he has scored enormous Olympic goals. He's done the same with, with, with Portugal, who obviously won the Nations League last summer. But when it's come to the big tournaments, the World cup and the euros, I mean, it looked like he was sort of a bit of a dead weight in, in a very talented Portugal team. Where I think this summer will be different is that he'll no doubt score loads and loads of goals again in the group stage. He'll probably wear the golden boot at the World cup, but then we'll get to the stage later in the competition where he's playing against top class opposition and is struggling. So to put it this way, I think he's the best 41 year old footballer I've ever seen. He's an absolute phenomenon. To be playing even in the Saudi Pro league and even scoring loads of goals in European qualifiers against the minnows of UEFA. It's phenomenal what he's done. And we are still talking about it. We are still talking about his football career. This is a podcast about him. So I've always been somebody who would put Lionel Messi on a different level to Ronaldo, if it comes to that kind of debate. But I don't think that denigrates what, you know, the career he's had and the fact that even to be sort of hanging onto his brilliance and prolific output at this stage of his career is pretty impressive.

[James Horncastle]

Yeah. I wonder if there's a very transparent conversation to have about where Ronaldo is right now, James, in terms of, yes, perhaps people might not remember his greatest goal of recent, but with someone that social profile, I mean, it's a win win, isn't it? You give him lots of money, he basically raises the profile of your tournament or raises the profile of your league. I mean, it's purely about money at this point, surely.

[Ayo Akimwaleere]

Well, I mean, he has definitely raised the profile of that league. He's made us talk about it as something more than an aside whilst we were at the Qatar World Cup. Shall we go over the border and watch an Al Hilal game as a kind of bucket list for your kind of football hipster kind of thing. He has made it something to be talked about. One of the things that Oli has just said, I think is really interesting in that for a player that age to be scoring this number of goals, it is remarkable as kind of just a feat of human endurance and determination. I think actually one of the things that counts against Cristiano and I saw one of his former teammates, Gianluigi Buffon, the Juventus goalkeeper, talking about this on a podcast the other day where he had like this kind of firebrand, Antonio Cassano, who had loads of talent but never really kind of fulfilled his potential. Cassano's like hot takes was very much like, ah, come on, Ronaldo. Yeah, he's just, he's not on the same level as Messi. Full disclosure, Cassano named one of his kids after Messi. He's called Lionel Cassano. And Buffon was like, no, you're not really understanding Cristiano here because for Cristiano to have the career that he's had, as Ollie said in this post last Ballon D' or ERA, 2017, he's had to understand his body better, adapt his game and pare back a lot of the spectacular stuff that he used to do. He can't beat players with the step overs and push it past opponents anymore. He's not scoring from 40 yards anymore. You know, often it is, it's about his movement in the penalty area, it's about his athleticism with his leap in the box. It's about, you know, I mean, people talk about him as being Penaldo or tip tapping Ronaldo, you know, sort of denigrates him. But like all of these things that he's, there's, there's a tacit admission there that, okay, he can't do what he did before, but he can still be ruthless and decisive on a, on a scale that few players, if any player has kind of reached. But I do think that maybe contributes to this opinion that Ronaldo is not all that because there's such a distance from when he was this spectacular player 10 years ago that because of the player he is now, he was never that player that we thought he was when he's just kind of adapted to be a, a guy in a 41 year old, 42 year old body. That is what he loves to claim biologically 28, something like that. But he's, he's still scoring more than 100 goals for Juventus, more than 100 goals for, for Al Nassr. So it is interesting, the perception of him as a footballer.

[James Horncastle]

Okay, well, let's talk about what could be possible next steps for Ronaldo. His contract will only have 12 months remaining once the summer window opens. His 43 million pound clause can also be triggered this summer as well. So could he be on the move to the mls? Perhaps? Well, let's hear from our North American writer, Felipe Cardenas.

[Felipe Cardenas]

You know, I really think it's highly unlikely that an MLS team would. Would really go all in on Cristiano Ronaldo at 41 years of age in the summer of 2026. Now, it's not to say that there aren't teams that would consider it. I just think in speaking with, you know, sporting directors around the league, you know, I was told by one that there's probably only one team in the league that could potentially sign Ronaldo, and that's Inter Miami. Now, Inter Miami is the home of Lionel Messi, and I don't think either player would want to share a dressing, even though. Even if that is would be the biggest story in the history of club football, you know, straight out of FIFA ultimate team. But, you know, it would be very difficult for Inter Miami to even consider that, you know, they had to jump through a lot of hoops to sign little Messi, make unprecedented types of deals with, with even outside corpor and partners with MLS to get him into the league. I don't think they can do that twice. I don't think any team can do that twice. And then there's the other aspect of a lot of MLS teams and their chief sporting directors really wanting to move away from signing the player that is in the twilight of their career. Now, Ronaldo is a massive name, one of the greatest players to play this game, but, you know, I just think his form is dipped way too much for a team to take a risk on a player like that. And again, the wage demands are just way too high for any team in mls.

[James Horncastle]

Yeah, thanks for that, Felipe. And I wonder if there's something in here about the prodigal son returns back home, back to Portugal. James, we talk about Bran Ronaldo. I mean, that would be a wonderful story, wouldn't it?

[Ayo Akimwaleere]

I think it would be a very romantic story to see a player go back to where it all started in Sporting.

[Oli Kay]

Our.

[Ayo Akimwaleere]

Well, I know Porto are top of the league at the moment with Fagioli, but Sporting have certainly continue to be competitive even after Ruben Amarim left, in fact, shown they can be competitive without a signing like this. It's just staggering to me when you said that a player of this age has that buyout clause. Yeah, which, which is, is remarkable because like, it's not only a case of, of paying that, that fee, it then comes down to, to paying Ronaldo unless he's prepared to, to forego those wages, which, I mean, one of the stories I worked on over the last year before Juventus played Real Madrid in the Champions League base in October was how he was in arbitration with Juventus about unpaid money, which was from COVID and salary reduction that was or was not agreed to 20 million. And so he seems to expect to be very well paid. And you know, I, I don't think that would change. And obviously with Sporting, like, at what stage would he go to, to sporting when he's 50, 60, is he going to be like the Japanese player who's still playing?

[James Horncastle]

Yeah, I think he's well into his 50s, isn't he? Just signed another contract. What's your record, Ollie?

[Oli Kay]

I agree with James and it, I mean, it's remarkable really to think of a 41 year old player with not just that buyout clause, but with, with. He's basically got another year and a half on his contract, hasn't he? I assumed when, when he went to, to Saudi Arabia that he would see out his days there. I didn't, I didn't think it was going to be a stepping stone to another move, whether it was, you know, in MLS or Portugal or wherever. I just, I didn't. That would be it.

[Ayo Akimwaleere]

Part of this multi club.

[Oli Kay]

Yeah, yeah, I've thought, listen, listening to him over the last couple of years and the same really with Messi, where they've always said, oh, this is going to be my last World cup, this is going to be my last Euros. In Ronaldo's case. So he was saying in euros in 2024, he didn't expect to be at the 2028 euros. So that to me suggested that he might finish with international football after this World Cup. Do I imagine him sort of having another big move in him, another sort of two year contract? I, I suspect he can't play on much longer, can he? I mean, he could, he physically could because he's, you know, 42 going on.

[James Horncastle]

His motivation is, is it money, is it goals, is it status?

[Oli Kay]

I think he wants to score a thousand goals. That's been suggested to me. He wants to score a thousand goals, he wants to, you know, break whatever records he can, but I don't see him playing at the start of the, let's say 2027, 28 season. I'd be surprised. And if he is, wow, that's really incredible. But if he's doing that and if he's in dispute with his club over this or that, whether it's about commercial things and financial things as it was at Juventus, or whether it's about not being picked as it was at Manchester United towards the end, or accusing the club of not having his ambitions towards the end, or whether it's this. I mean, I think if he gets to 42, 43 and he's still under contract and he's still picking fights with the ownership, whichever club he's at might be easier for them to go against him at that point. I don't suspect he'll be the force he is even at having just turned 41. I suspect at some point he's going to think, no, I'll just be Cristiano Ronaldo businessman, an influencer rather than Cristiano footballer, businessman and influencer.

[Jennifer]

Oh, could this vintage store be any cuter?

[Oli Kay]

Right?

[Jennifer]

And the best part? They accept Discover except Discover in a little place like this. I don't think so. Jennifer oh yeah, huh? Discover's accepted where I like to shop. Come on baby, get with the times. Right, so we shouldn't get the parachute pants. These are making a comeback, I think.

[James Horncastle]

Discover is accepted at 99% of places that take credit cards nationwide, based on.

[Ayo Akimwaleere]

The February 2025 Nielsen report.

[Oli Kay]

Celebrate your special Someone at Whole Foods.

[James Horncastle]

Market with the ingredient standards they deserve.

[Ayo Akimwaleere]

Get baked treats with no bleached or.

[James Horncastle]

Bromated flour and no FD&C synthetic dyes like red number three. Find yellow sales signs and make the night sizzle. With savings on caviar, New York strip steak and more. Don't forget to find the perfect bouquet and those romantic chocolate dipped strawberries. Taste the love all month at Whole Foods Market.

[Jennifer]

What if you could color your hair without worrying about the damage? With K18 Molecular Repair Mask, you can. K18 Hair has been breaking rules and records since day one, delivering soft, strong, bouncy hair even if you bleach, color and use heat. The patented K18 peptide is the greatest discovery in hair history. It reverses damage in four minutes deep within hair's innermost layers. Before K18, real lasting biomimetic repair didn't exist, so they went ahead and invented it for breakthrough results. The K18 mask gets molecular My hair has never felt this healthy. You'll flip for hair like new too. Shop at Sephora or get 10% off your first purchase with code [e-mail]. That's code podcast18hair.com.

[James Horncastle]

You're listening to the Athletic FC podcast with ayawakamolere.

[Oli Kay]

This is Albushal Ronaldo. Sensational. The legend does it again. Everybody inside the stadium on their feet. My word.

[James Horncastle]

I mean, look, when you talk about influencer, let's not forget he's one of the faces for the PR for the World cup in Saudi Arabia. Him and Benzema as well. I mean, I wanted to ask you whether the lack of football so far might impact him playing in the World Cup. I don't really think that's an issue. I wonder if the motivator also is when Messi plays. Maybe I play, too. I mean, are we still on that kind of Ronaldo Messi conversation?

[Ayo Akimwaleere]

I don't know. I think they've been very respectful of each other, haven't they, since they've moved on from Real Madrid and Barcelona. They've spoken about how, yeah, they've driven each other on in the same way that those great tennis players, Murray. Yes.

[James Horncastle]

Let's not forget.

[Ayo Akimwaleere]

But I don't think their respective ambitions are tied to one another anymore. I think it will be very interesting to see how this role evolves with Saudi Arabia, whether this relationship comes under any tension because of how he's acting at the moment, or whether we're just viewing that over the course of the last 10 days rather than the whole. But he's clearly a very important part of that project, conferring legitimacy on that World cup and will no doubt play the same role that David Beckham played for Qatar and continues to play for Qatar in being part of their advertising and some of the other legends that were kind of leaned on by Qatar to make Qatar relevant as a football nation outside of their investments in Paris Saint Germain. So, yeah, I mean, I'd be curious to. After his contract runs out, were he to retire, I'd be curious to see where he went in his life after that, whether he moves back to Portugal, moves back to Madrid to live there. I think he has discussed this with his great friend Piers Morgan, in terms of. I think he wants to. To focus on some of his business, his many business interests, and he's got a lot of them. He has a vast business empire, Cristiano, be it hotels, be it hair transplant clinics, be it media conglomerates in Portugal. Maybe he'll edit one of the newspapers, one of those media conglomerate zones. You never know. He might. He might save print media. He's been keeping us all in a job for a long time. So Maybe the newspaper man, you know, Cristiano Ronaldo is the way forward. We'll see.

[James Horncastle]

I mean, Oli, other than winning the World cup, the vast achievements of Ronaldo are beyond most footballers. He's added, you know, a second Nations League victory to his trophy cabinet, also a Euros to his trophy cabinet. I mean, let's think about this World Cup. Is he going to be the starman for Portugal under Roberto Martinez?

[Oli Kay]

I think we'll. We'll see him play matches in the group stage and see him score a lot of goals because that's. That's what he's set up to do. I think he's. I think he's. There's almost nobody better at scoring loads of calls against. Against limited opposition. And they will be playing limited opposition in the World Cup. That's one of the things about the. The 48 team tournament, I suspect. I mean, having seen how it's gone at the last two tournaments where for Portugal, as in the World cup, in the Euros, I'm not. I wasn't including the. The Nations League, perhaps harshly, they looked a better team when he wasn't playing. And he seemed to struggle with those, with those tournaments. And look, he is capable of proving people wrong and rising to occasion and sort of converting the type of chances that he hasn't converted in some of those big games the last couple of tournaments. But I would have certainly said after the last Euros that looking ahead to this World cup that Portugal needed to find a way to play without him, which they didn't do at the World Cup. Obviously, they have had the tragedy of losing Diogo Jota. It's not just Liverpool who have had to deal with the footballing fallout of that. It's Portugal as well. There's Gonzalo Ramos, who's an excellent player, but doesn't necessarily play as regularly as you might think a player of that talent would. So we could all see a situation where Ronaldo is not only starting a tournament, but that he's probably scored six or seven goals by the time it gets to the knockout stage, and then that will probably be where he's judged later in the tournament. They do need to find a way to play without him, but you can bet your bottom dollar that, you know, if there are games against minnows to be played in the group stage, he's not going to be saying, do you know, I think I'll sit this one out. I think he'll be. I think he'll be desperate to beat whatever record he can.

[James Horncastle]

Okay, gents, let's leave it there. James, appreciate your time and Ollie, thanks for joining us as well. And also thank you guys for watching and listening as well. We'll catch you've been listening to the Athletic FC Podcast.

[Oli Kay]

The producers were Guy Clark, Mike Stavroo.

[James Horncastle]

And Jay Beale with editing by Paul.

[Ayo Akimwaleere]

Iliffe and Nick Thompson. The executive producer is Ady Moorhead.

[James Horncastle]

To listen to other great athletic podcasts for free, including our dedicated club shows, search for the Athletic wherever you get your podcasts. You'll also find us on YouTube at the Athletic FC Podcast, so make sure you subscribe. The Athletic FC Podcast is an athletic media company production.

[Jennifer]

My dad taught me a lot, including how easy it is to forget to cancel things. So I downloaded Experian, my bff. Big financial friend Experian could help me cancel my unused subscriptions and lower my bills, saving me hundreds a year. Get started with the Experian app today. Your big financial friends here to help you save smarter. Results will vary. Not all bills or subscriptions. Savings not guaranteed. $631 a year average savings with one negotiations and one plus cancellations paid. Membership with connected payment account required. See experian.com for details. Experian Spring break isn't what it used to be. It's better this spring. Stay three nights and get a $50 Best Western gift card. Life's a trip. Make the most of it at best Western. Visit bestwestern.com for complete terms and conditions.