Where Will Cristiano Ronaldo Play Next Season: Cristiano Ronaldo sparked rumours of a potential exit from his current club, Al-Nassr, at the end of the season. And if he leaves the Saudi club, the question is, which team will one of the greatest footballers of all time play for next season?
After the 2022 FIFA World Cup in December of that year, Ronaldo was terminated from Manchester United. And instead of going to another European giant, the Portuguese legend made one of the most influential moves in modern football, signing with a club in the Saudi Pro League. At this time, Saudi Arabia was looking to use global sports to improve their image on the world stage, with football being at the centre of the plan.
Alleyes did move to the SPL when CR7 signed with Al-Nassr. This move prompted many other big names of world football to sign with clubs in Saudi Arabia. The likes of Neymar. Sadio Mané, N’Golo Kanté, and Karim Benzema signed with different clubs in the Arabian nation.
And while Al-Nassr would have believed that signing one of the greatest sportsmen of all time would end their dry spell of winning domestic league titles, that would not happen. While Ronaldo did dominate the league in the past two and a half seasons, his team has not been able to win the Saudi Pro League. In 2022-23 and 2023-24, they finished as runners-up. Now, in 2024-25, they have finished third, 13 points behind league winner Al-Ittihad.
Al-Nassr also failed to win the domestic cup competition, the King’s Cup, with Cristiano, or the AFC Champions Trophy, despite being one of the best club teams in Asia on paper.
After another disappointing season with no trophy, CR7 took to the social media site ‘X’ to post a cryptic post, which prompted speculation that he might be leaving his club at the end of the season this summer. The post read,
“This chapter is over. The story? Still being written. Grateful to all.”
Check Out: Where Will Cristiano Ronaldo Play Next Season
Ronaldo’s contract with Al-Nassr ends on June 30, 2025. His current contract makes him the highest-paid footballer in the world. But now, at the age of 40, both parties will not get what they want from the same deal. While Cristiano wants success in his final years of football, Al-Nassr wants to pay a lot less for a 40-year-old.
But there is another massive reason that has sparked the rumours of his departure. FIFA is selling the revamped FIFA Club World Cup as a competition bigger than any club tournament in the world. And for that, they need every big team and superstar player playing in this competition. And due to their disappointing season, Al-Nassr will not be playing in the 32-team competition this summer.
FIFA President Gianni Infantino, while appearing on a stream with famous streamer ‘IShowSpeed’, with the Club World Cup trophy recently. On the stream, he claimed,
“Ronaldo might play for one of the teams as well at the Club World Cup.”
It must be noted that the Club World Cup starts on June 15, while Ronaldo’s contract with his current club ends on June 30. However, if all the parties want Cristiano to move to some other team, the player, the club, and FIFA can work a deal out on the down-low to release him before the end of his contract.
Where Will Cristiano Ronaldo Play Next Season?
With that being established, we can speculate in regard to which club Cristiano Ronaldo will play for in the coming season. Firstly, there are very few clubs in the world that can even afford to pay top dollar for a player past his prime.
For that reason, the obvious answer would be the Saudi Pro League, which did qualify for the World Cup, that being Al-Hilal. Last year’s winners of the SPL have money to spare after letting go of Neymar. Ronaldo moving to Al-Hilal might be the perfect match for all parties.
But there is another Asian club that might make a bid for the GOAT, that being the winners of the 2023-24 AFC Champions League, Al Ain FC from the UAE. The United Arab Emirates might be heading down the path that Saudi Arabia and Qatar have walked, that is, to use football to improve their global image. Al Ain plays in the UAE Pro League and is the most successful club in league history. The owner and president of the club is Sheikh Mohammed Bin Zayed Al Nahyan, who is also the ruler of the UAE.
While quite unlikely, it is also possible that Ronaldo goes on to play for a South American club, most likely one from Brazil. It was reported a few days ago that the Portuguese GOAT received a massive offer from a Brazilian club. Some believed that it was from Botafogo, which is one of four Brazilian clubs in the Club World Cup alongside Flamengo, Palmeiras, and Fluminense.
There might be a minuscule chance that Major League Soccer (MLS) club Inter Milan, the current home of Lionel Messi, bids for CR7. While it is extremely unlikely, this will be a dream scenario for football fans, who could finally get to see Messi and Ronaldo play together.
Finally, we come to Europe. Even financially strong teams such as Manchester City, PSG, Real Madrid, or Bayern Munich are unlikely to make a bid for the 40-year-old. It is also next to impossible that Ronaldo moves to Auckland FC in New Zealand or an African club like ES Tunis, both of which will also play in the World Cup.
Mind you, all this is nothing more than speculation at the moment. But if Cristiano Ronaldo is to leave Al-Nassr to play in the FIFA Club World Cup this summer, which club will he play for in the next, and possibly final, chapter of his long and storied career?
Check Out: Where Will Cristiano Ronaldo Play Next Season
Get the Latest UEFA Champions League, English Premier League, La Liga, Saudi Pro League, and MLS at IceCric.News and Follow for Live Updates – Facebook & Instagram.
