Cristiano Ronaldo only joined Al-Nassr ‘for money’, claims former Manchester United striker after the Portugal star’s £175m-a-year switch to Saudi Arabia

A former Manchester United striker has accused Cristiano Ronaldo of only moving to Saudi Arabia for money.

Following his departure from United last year, Ronaldo signed for Al-Nassr in December.

Ronaldo is earning £175million-a-year at Al-Nassr, and a host of other high-profile players have since headed to Saudi Arabia, including Karim Benzema, N’Golo Kante, Ruben Neves and Jordan Henderson.

Odion Ighalo had a spell on loan at United from January 2020 to January 2021, during which he scored five goals in 23 games.

Ighalo then spent time at Saudi Arabian clubs Al-Shabab and Al-Hilal (with whom he won the league title) and is currently a free agent. 

Cristiano Ronaldo has been accused of moving to Saudi Arabia for money by a former Manchester United striker

The striker says that Ronaldo only moved to Al-Nassr for money rather than passion for the game. The pair didn’t play together at United, with Ronaldo making his return to Old Trafford in August 2021.

Ighalo told OmaSportsTV: ‘When you are young, yes, you play for passion. Back then, you don’t care about money. But at my age, I am in the final stretch of my career, I don’t know if it will be one, two years or when God will tell it to stop.

‘I know it won’t be more than three years. I’ve played for passion all my life, now it’s for money. I’m not one of those players who come and say: ‘I play for passion’. Brother, it’s money. At the end of the day, it’s money.

‘Is Ronaldo still playing out of passion? Ronaldo has earned 100 times more than I have in my entire life and yet he went to Saudi Arabia. Did he do that out of passion? It’s for money, bro.’ 

Since moving to Al-Nassr, Ronaldo has scored 14 goals in 19 games and he will be determined to help his side win the title this season after they finished second behind Al-Ittihad last campaign.

Al-Hilal attempted to lure Kylian Mbappe to Saudi Arabia and had a record breaking  bid of £259million accepted by Paris Saint-Germain. 

Former United striker Odion Ighalo says Ronaldo’s move to Al-Nassr was financially motivated

Ronaldo started a trend that has seen a host of high-profile players head to Saudi Arabia

However, despite a salary package of £600million being promised, Mbappe declined to speak to Al-Hilal’s delegation. 

Lionel Messi also rejected Al-Hilal as he ended up signing for MLS side Inter Miami instead.

Ronaldo then stated that the Saudi Pro League is superior to MLS.

He said: ‘The Saudi league is better than MLS. Now all the players are coming here. In one year, more top players will come to Saudi Arabia. I opened the way to the Saudi league, and now all the players are coming here.’