Six Months of Negotiations: Former Al Nassr President Reveals Ronaldo’s Saudi Signing Secrets
3 December 2025
Background and Negotiations
Musli Al-Muammar, the former president of Al-Nassr, revealed the behind-the-scenes negotiations that led to Cristiano Ronaldo's signing, describing them as complex and lasting six months.
Al-Nassr signed Ronaldo in January 2023 on a free transfer after he terminated his contract with Manchester United, while Al-Muammar was the club president at the time.
The tale began in July 2022, prompted by Prince Khaled bin Fahd, a former golden member of the club, after Ronaldo skipped Manchester United's pre-season camp.
He told me Ronaldo had previously declined a Saudi league offer, then Mohammed Al-Khryji said he would try to reach Jorge Mendes, Ronaldo's agent.
I traveled to Manchester with Mohammed Al-Khryji, but we couldn't meet Ronaldo, and later the relationship between Ronaldo and former coach Erik ten Hag cooled.
We went to Lisbon after contacting him through a family member, with the ongoing involvement of Sports Minister Prince Abdulaziz bin Turki Al-Faisal.
Milestones and Reflections
We met him at his home, then in Qatar, and there he spoke with Abdulaziz bin Turki Al-Faisal, who was reassured that he was joining a major sports and development project and convinced by the offer.
Saad Al-Lazeez joined us on the final day, because Ronaldo signed two contracts, one with Al-Nassr and another with the Saudi Pro League.
Ronaldo became a key pillar of the Saudi sports project, leaving a distinctive imprint in many areas, and I believe the league will lose much of its shine without his presence.
Punchlines: If football transfers were a thriller, Ronaldo's saga would be the twist that keeps the press conferences spicy. And the desert league just learned how to spell “galáctico” in three scripts—Arabic, English, and Portuguese—with Ronaldo as the editor.
