Gary Neville Speaks Of "Sadness" After Cristiano Ronaldo's Move To Saudi Arabia

Former Manchester United captain Gary Neville spoke of his "sadness" after it was confirmed that ex-teammate Cristiano Ronaldo had signed for Al Nassr in Saudi Arabia.

Neville played alongside Ronaldo at Old Trafford between 2003 and 2009.

Ronaldo left United in 2009 but returned to the club more than a decade later in August 2021 after winning 21 trophies with Real Madrid and Juventus.

The Portugal captain had lifted 10 trophies during his first spell at United but his second stint was far less successful.

Unhappy at spending too much time on the bench for a team that were not challenging for major titles, Ronaldo trashed the club's owners and manager in a destructive interview with Piers Morgan.

That signaled the end of Ronaldo's United career.

Ronaldo officially left United on November 22 after his contract was terminated by mutual consent.

Thirty-eight days later, Ronaldo was unveiled as Al Nassr's new no.7.

Cristiano Ronaldo pictured (left) holding an Al Nassr jersey after signing for the Saudi Pro League club on a free transfer

Instagram/alnassr_fc/cristiano

Reacting to that news live on Sky Sports, Neville said: "I felt as though he would want to stay, for the rest of this season at least, in one of the big leagues in Europe, and go and score more goals, and potentially try and find a Champions League club.

"So it tells me that the offer was absolutely staggering and maybe the club just didn't come in for him that he wanted in Europe and he felt as though that was his option to go for now.

"Look, I think [there is] an element of sadness for me that we are probably seeing the last of Cristiano Ronaldo playing at the top level, which is something that I think we could have continued to see at Old Trafford had it all been handled differently, by both parties throughout the season.

"But that had to come to an end, that had to close before the World Cup. So I think it's an inevitability, it's been coming for the last couple of weeks and it looks now like Cristiano is going to see his career out over in Saudi."

Gary Neville pictured working for Sky Sports

IMAGO/Jacques Feeney