 Football superstar Cristiano Ronaldo has joined Saudi club Al Nasr on a contract to play until June 2025.
"History is being made," Al Nassr FC wrote in his Twitter post on the official English account.
“This will not only lead our club to even greater success, but will also inspire our league, our country and future generations, boys and girls, to be the best version of themselves. Welcome Cristiano to your new home his AlNassrFC."
The Saudi club was quoted as saying Ronaldo was "eager to experience a new football league in another country".
His 37-year-old captain of the Portuguese side is free his agent after leaving his club Manchester United after a dramatic altercation with some of its management.
News of Ronaldo's signing on Friday follows months of rumors and speculation about whether he will join the Saudi Arabian squad. In the summer, Ronaldo turned down an offer from another Saudi club, Al Hilal. He said it was then that he decided to stay at Manchester United, where he was happy.
Several media outlets have estimated Ronaldo's annual salary at Al Nasr at around $200 million including commercial deals, which, if confirmed, would make him the highest salary in sports history.
Prominent football reporter Fabrizio Romano outlined the deal in a tweet, calling it "the best salary in football history."
At his 37 years, Ronaldo has reached the normal retirement age for a professional footballer, so his deal will extend his career with significant financial benefits. Ronaldo's contract with Manchester United earned him a staggering $605,000 a week. He is one of the highest paid athletes of all time.
A deal with Al Nasr would reportedly see Ronaldo earn more than his $1 million a week.
Founded in Riyadh in 1955, Al-Nasr is one of Saudi Arabia's oldest football clubs and has won his nine titles in the Saudi Premier League. The team's current manager is French international Rudy Garcia, whose resume includes managers of top European clubs such as Roma, Olympique his Marseille and Lille.
Saudi clubs are known for their ability to offer large sums of money to foreign players. This is especially true as the oil-rich and conservative Kingdom builds sports, entertainment and other industries to attract tourism, talent and investment to help diversify its economy. Saudi Arabia has applied to host the 2030 FIFA World Cup.
Ronaldo is the top scorer in professional football history with a total of 819 career goals by the end of 2022. He scored 450 goals for Spanish Real Madrid, 145 goals in 346 games for Manchester United, 118 goals for the Portuguese national team, and 101 goals for Italian club Juventus.
In addition to Ronaldo's football achievements, his huge following on social media appears to be of great value to the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia as it seeks to attract more positive attention to the Kingdom. Became the first athlete to surpass 500 million combined followers on Twitter, Facebook and Instagram, and now has 525 million followers on Instagram alone. Ronaldo made his last World Cup appearance at Qatar 2022 and set a new record by scoring the winning goal against Ghana as the first man to score in five different FIFA World Cups. The Portuguese team was later knocked out of the tournament by Morocco.