Cristiano Ronaldo’s salary compared to Al Nassr teammates

After failing to see eye-to-eye with new Manchester United boss Erik ten Hag, Cristiano Ronaldo acrimoniously departed the club by mutual consent at the end of 2022.

While the all-time Portuguese great scored at an impressive rate during his second stint in Manchester, there were enough red flags to turn the rest of Europe’s elite off once he became available.

As a result, Ronaldo is no longer competing in the continent which he conquered five times with two clubs and once with his country. Instead, the 38-year-old emerged as a pioneer by taking his talents to the developing Saudi frontier.

Ronaldo was the Saudi Pro League’s first major coup, with his move, combined with increased financial backing from the highly ambitious Saudi government, setting the stage for a revolution this summer and beyond. The figures being dished around are simply obscene, but there isn’t a player that’s benefitted more financially from Saudi Arabia’s desire to blossom into a footballing force than Ronaldo.

Ronaldo is earning a fortune at Al Nassr.

The 38-year-old signed a record-breaking deal with the PIF-backed club in December 2022 worth £177m per year. His current deal dwarfs his previous contracts with Juventus and Manchester United, where he picked up salaries of £26m and £20m respectively.

Ronaldo’s mammoth deal not only means he’s the highest-paid footballer in the world, but the highest-paid athlete, too. Well, Forbes say so anyway.

The above table could look a little different come the end of the summer with Al Nassr poised to add a couple of big European names to their ranks before the season gets underway.

Ronaldo has already been joined by Chelsea’s Hakim Ziyech, and the Moroccan is set to be the club’s second-highest earner. The winger will reportedly earn a salary just shy of £10m.

There are currently no major stars in Al Nassr’s ranks other than Ronaldo (and now Ziyech), although Anderson Talisca enjoyed an excellent season and played a crucial role in the club’s title tilt. The Brazilian, who earned a fortune during the Chinese Super League’s pomp, is Al Nassr’s fourth-highest earner with a salary of £2.8m.

Defender Ghislain Konan, previously of Reims, sits in between Talisca and Ziyech with a reported salary of £3.5m.

The club’s four other foreign players; Pity Martinez, David Ospina, Alvaro Gonzalez and Luiz Gustavo are all earning between £1m and £1.5m a year. Al Nassr’s Saudi cohort, meanwhile, are on the other side of the £1m threshold. Defenders Sultan Al-Ghannam and Abdulelah Al-Amri are the highest-paid Saudi players at the club, earning £800,000 a year.