How Good Is Cristiano Ronaldo Junior? Legend’s Son Tipped for Real Madrid Move

The 15-year-old is reportedly weighing up a move to Europe.

Cristiano Ronaldo Jr has already represented Portugal at the youth level. | Eric Verhoeven/Soccrates/Getty Images

Cristiano Ronaldo Junior is reportedly weighing up a move to Europe this summer as he looks to further his chances of a professional career at the highest level.

The 15-year-old currently plays for Saudi Pro League team Al Nassr’s youth team—the club his father joined back in 2023. The youngster has tailed his dad in the early stages of his own playing career, spending time in the academies of Juventus and Manchester United before moving to Saudi Arabia.

However, Ronaldo Junior is seemingly now interested in forging his own path. The Sun claims that he wants to start “testing himself against elite academies” in Europe, with a number of top clubs now interested.

---

Ronaldo Junior Wants Madrid Amid Elite Clubs Interest

Cristiano Ronaldo Junior could be targeted by a host of clubs. | Pixsell/MB Media/Getty Images

The report name-checks a host of top European teams as possible suitors, including Bayern Munich, Paris Saint-Germain, Borussia Dortmund and Sporting CP. However, it adds that Ronaldo Junior has “his heart set on returning to the U.K. or Madrid.”

The young forward previously spent a brief spell with Real Madrid earlier this year, training with the club’s Under-16s as his father spent time in the Spanish capital while recovering from injury.

It has previously been reported that Madrid are keeping an eye the rising star with a view to signing him to their youth academy in the “near future.”

Ronaldo senior famously spent nine seasons at the Bernabéu and ranks as one of the club’s all-time greats.

---

What Type of Player Is Ronaldo Junior?

Many people’s first exposure to Ronaldo’s son will have come in the legendary forward’s self-titled documentary from 2015, during which a very young Cristiano Junior is seen telling his dad he wants to be a goalkeeper when he grows up.

In the last decade, things have changed somewhat and Ronaldo Junior is now following in the family business as a goalscoring forward who can also operate out wide.

Though he has not yet finished growing, the teenager is already visibly taller than his father, standing at well over 6’, and is said to be good in the air.

Despite being born in California, he has already pledged his allegiance to his father’s homeland and has featured for Portugal’s Under-15s and Under-16s—winning the Federations Cup with the latter last November.

At club level he boasts an impressive record of 56 goals in 27 matches for Al Nassr’s U-15s.

The Sun’s report claims that Ronaldo Junior has been lined up for first-team appearances alongside his 41-year-old dad next season, should he choose to remain in Saudi Arabia.

---

Is Real Madrid Move a Good Idea?

Ronaldo Junior is already a familiar face to Real Madrid fans. | Europa Press/Europa Press via Getty Images

Though he may develop into a talented young player on his own terms, Ronaldo Junior’s name will always invite comparisons, and a move to Madrid would be a bold one.

The 15-year-old is already a celebrity, having grown up in the public eye, and a move to the club where his father broke countless records would invite further pressure and scrutiny.

Ronaldo set near-impossible standards to follow as Real Madrid’s all-time top goalscorer, as well as winning four Champions Leagues and four Ballon d’Or awards in his time at the Bernabéu.

Ronaldo Junior would, however, not be the only son of a former great in the academy, however. Marcelo’s 16-year-old son, Enzo Alves, signed his first professional contract with Madrid back in January.

In recent years, Zinedine Zidane’s sons Enzo and Luca both made first-team appearances for Madrid, though neither went on to establish themselves as regulars.

---