Behind the scenes of Cristiano Ronaldo's stunning transfer to Al Nassr: Secrecy, negotiations in Madrid, beating Al Hilal, and more 

Cristiano Ronaldo was officially presented as an Al Nassr player on January 3, at the Mrsool Park, after the superstar signed a two-and-a-half-year deal with the Saudi Arabian outfit. According to various sources, Ronaldo is set to earn a whopping $200 million per year during his stay in Saudi.

Renowned sports website The Athletic has shed light on how the Saudi Pro League club managed to get their hands on one of the best players in history. According to them, Al Nassr were in no position to be able to afford Ronaldo’s astronomical wages.

So, they turned to outside help, receiving aid from Visit Saudi, the Kingdom’s tourism board, and Saudi Media Company (SMC). Visit Saudi was very much visible during Cristiano Ronaldo’s presentation on January 3.

This has compelled The Athletic to speculate that the Portuguese could be used to promote the country’s tourism, something Ronaldo’s arch-rival Lionel Messi already does.

Al Nassr president Musalli Al-Muammar reserved special praise for Muhammad Al-Khuraiji after Ronaldo’s transfer was announced. Al-Khuraiji currently serves as the chairman of SMC, which confirms the organization’s involvement in helping Al Nassr acquire Ronaldo.

Al-Khuraiji was also a part of the delegation that traveled to Madrid to negotiate with Ronaldo and his agent Ricardo Regufe on the club’s behalf. Regufe met with Al Nassr’s representatives in Riyadh on December 20, but it has been claimed that the key meetings took place in Madrid.

Speaking to Saudi outlet Al-Arabiya, Al-Khuraiji confirmed that they wanted to keep the whole negotiation process a secret. To ensure this, Al Nassr delegates barely left the hotel during negotiations. It has been claimed that the deal was finalized on December 28, two days before Al Nassr and Cristiano Ronaldo officially announced it via their social media channels.

Al Nassr’s local rivals Al Hilal were also interested in signing Cristiano Ronaldo. In fact, Al Hilal tried to sign Ronaldo from Manchester United in the summer. However, due to a transfer ban, they lost the superstar to Al Nassr.

Al Hilal are currently serving a transfer ban after midfielder Mohamed Kanno broke a contract with Al Nassr. The Saudi Arabian midfielder had initially agreed to join Al Nassr at the end of his contract last summer but ended up signing a contract extension with Al Hilal. They appealed to overturn the ban but it ultimately turned out to be unsuccessful, causing them to miss out on Cristiano Ronaldo.

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Al Nassr confirmed Cristiano Ronaldo’s contract does not have 2030 World Cup clause

After Ronaldo’s transfer was announced, multiple sources claimed that the 37-year-old’s lucrative Al Nassr contract included a World Cup clause. It was speculated that the player would have to back Saudi Arabia’s FIFA World Cup bid in 2030 in order to give them a leg up.

Al Nassr have shot down the aforementioned speculation, claiming that Ronaldo’s clause does not bind him to World Cup responsibilities.

“Al Nassr FC would like to clarify that contrary to news reports, Cristiano Ronaldo's contract with Al Nassr does not entail commitments to any World Cup bids.

“His main focus is on Al Nassr and to work with his teammates to help the club achieve success.”

Ronaldo could make his Al Nassr debut in a Saudi Pro League clash against Ettifaq on 22 January.