Cristiano Ronaldo suggested he's motivated by legacy over money. 6 weeks later he signed a $200 million per year deal to play in Saudi Arabia.
- Cristiano Ronaldo seemed to agree with Piers Morgan that he's motivated by legacy over money.
- But the world-famous soccer player said he declined offers from clubs in Europe, US to play in Saudi Arabia.
Cristiano Ronaldo signed a lucrative deal worth hundreds of millions of dollars to play soccer for Al Nassr in Saudi Arabia just weeks after suggesting he was incentivized by legacy rather than money to Piers Morgan.
"You want to keep playing at the highest level, you want to play Champions League football, you want to keep breaking records," media personality Morgan said to Ronaldo on the Piers Morgan Uncensored channel on YouTube.
"Again, it comes back to my gut feeling that if it was just about money, you'd be in Saudi Arabia earning this king's ransom. But that's not what motivates you. You want to keep [playing] at the top."
Ronaldo replied: "Exactly."
The 37-year-old, who had recently split from Manchester United in England over tensions with manager Erik ten Hag and other comments made in the Morgan interview, added: "Because I still believe that I can score many, many goals."
That interview was released in mid-November.
Al Nassr unveiled Ronaldo at the end of 2022
By December, Ronaldo signed a contract to exclusively compete with Al Nassr in a deal that will reportedly net the player $75 million per year, according to CBS Sports, with the potential to reach up to $200 million when commercial agreements with the club are fulfilled, as per NBC Sports.
CNBC reported that the deal makes Ronaldo one of the highest-paid athletes in history.
It is, as Morgan said a little more than a month ago, a king's ransom.
Ronaldo said he had offers to play in Europe, Brazil, and the U.S.
"For me this is a great opportunity not only in football but also to change the mentality of the new generation," Ronaldo told reporters in Saudi Arabia this week.
He said that he had "many opportunities in Europe, many clubs in Brazil, in Australia, US, even in Portugal, tried to sign me, but I give my word to this club, to this opportunity, to develop not only the football but the other parts of this amazing country."
Ronaldo also said his work in Europe "is done."
Ronaldo is a five-time UEFA Champions League winner, a seven-time league champion while playing for United, Real Madrid, and Juventus, and even won two major titles for his national team, Portugal.
He is expected to play for Al Nassr in Saudi Arabia until he's 40 years old in 2025.