Cristiano Ronaldo Next Club Odds: A return to Madrid on the cards for unhappy Saudi star
To absolutely no one’s surprise, Cristiano Ronaldo is not enjoying his time in Saudi Arabia and is reportedly trying to force a move back to Europe for the final stage of his career. Well, the bookmakers are quick to the trends as always and a market has been priced up for his next move and we're here to talk you through the betting market.
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50%
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23.1%
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15.4%
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11.8%
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9.1%
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6.7%
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3.8%
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2.4%
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2.4%
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2.4%
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1.2%
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0.7%
Real Madrid
Real Madrid have been installed as the favourites to sign Cristiano Ronaldo and a ‘homecoming’ to Madrid would be the Portuguese superstar's dream move at this point in his career. Ronaldo’s wife Georgina Rodriguez has come out and said he is desperate for a return to Real Madrid and would love a move back to Spain.
The move to Saudi was a very strange one, but it seemed like they were the only team interested in him and willing to pay his massive wage bill. According to El Nacional, Florentino Perez is looking to offer him a return to Real Madrid and offer him an ambassadorial role at the club.
The move doesn’t really make sense logistically for Real Madrid as they still have reigning Ballon d'Or winner Karim Benzema firing on all cylinders and they’d have to force him out of his central role to once again accommodate Ronaldo. Although this time it would not be peak Cristiano moving Benzema to a sidekick role. On top of that, any club is going to have to pay a transfer fee now to buy Ronaldo out of his contract, which won't come cheap.
The move doesn’t make much sense but it’s hard for a club to turn down one of the best footballers of all time and making him an ambassador will definitely improve Real Madrid’s following. Who knows, maybe we get Ronaldo back to Madrid and Messi back to Barcelona to run it back for one last time.
Newcastle
As we’ve said in the past, Newcastle are always included in the betting markets for new signings and with their Saudi owners they could actually have a decent chance of working out a move for Ronaldo from Al Nassr.
The Toon’s new owners are looking to build a huge football club and there’s no bigger statement than signing the most famous footballer in the world. Newcastle can 100% afford his wages and the owners can probably work something out with their Saudi links.
On top of that, Newcastle are most likely going to be playing in the Champions League next season and there’s no one better to hire for the job than Mr Champions League himself, Cristiano Ronaldo. Newcastle could find their profile growing at a rapid rate if they manage to sign Ronaldo and he can use his experience in Europe to help them go far in the Champions League, what a timeline to be in for Newcastle fans!
Sporting Lisbon
A return home to Sporting has been rumoured for Cristiano Ronaldo and I’m sure the fans would more than welcome him to their club. The only problem is, Sporting directors have come out in the past to say they can’t afford him.
Ronaldo unfortunately is not in the business of lowering his wage to make things work at a club and whilst he can’t expect anyone to pay his current wage at Al Nassr, he’s still going to be expecting north of £350k a week for his services.
Sporting simply can’t afford that and unless he lowers his wage demands, they aren’t going to go in for him. He’s also under contract so unless Al Nassr let him go for free, don’t expect Ronaldo to be playing back in Portugal anytime soon.
Not to sign with anyone
There’s always the option of this just being 100% false and he has no intention of leaving the club. I think we all know he’s probably not enjoying his Saudi experience as much as his time at Man Utd or Real Madrid, but at the end of the day, they’re paying him an absolute boatload of cash to be there.
9/4 for him to not go anywhere could be decent value considering the transfer fee and wages that he is on. No one was interested in him last time and not much has changed since then. He’s still only getting older and it’s really hard to fit him in a team. Newcastle probably seems the soundest option, but it still seems like a big ask.
You can of course get some other clubs in the betting market like PSG, Man Utd, Chelsea, Arsenal and even any MLS club. But they're all incredibly unlikely options and your money is best invested elsewhere! Perhaps a move to the MLS would make sense, but Ronaldo has claimed that he aims to be competitive still and that's why he wants to return to Europe.
