Al Nassr Coach Admits He Wanted to Sign Messi Before Ronaldo

• Cristiano Ronaldo's new coach Rudi Garcia joked that he wanted to sign Lionel Messi first
• Ronaldo is the highest-paid sportsperson ever after signing a two-year deal with Al-Nassr
• The Portuguese superstar is also set to become the highest-paid footballer in the world

Al-Nassr manager Rudi Garcia has admitted that he wanted to sign Lionel Messi first, before signing Cristiano Ronaldo.

Ronaldo completed his switch to the Saudi Arabian giants last week after reportedly signing a two-year deal that will make him earn as much as £175m a year.

The five-time Ballon d'Or winner parted ways with Manchester United in November after he slammed the club, Erik ten Hag, and senior executives in a bombshell interview with Piers Morgan.

Ronaldo’s Portugal were eliminated from the 2022 World Cup at the hands of African giants Morocco in the quarter-finals, while his arch-nemesis Lionel Messi clinched the Mundial with Argentina.

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Al-Nassr boss Garcia said he attempted to sign Messi before eventually agreeing to settle for Ronaldo, as he joked with reporters ahead of their match against Al-Ta’ee on Thursday.

"First, I wanted to bring Messi from Doha," Garcia said at a press conference via Daily Mail. “I think that any coach would be delighted to train a great star like Cristiano and already in November 2021, I was very close to going to United."

Ronaldo could face Messi again

Meanwhile, Ronaldo could possibly face Messi after sealing the move to Al Nassr, Sports Brief has reported.

As PSG Talk reports, a potential clash between two of the modern era greats is in the offing as early as January 19.

Paris Saint-Germain are reportedly set to go to Saudi Arabia to play a friendly match against a combined eleven of Al-Nassr and Al Hilal players.

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Ronaldo boosts Al-Nassr’s social media

Sports Brief also reported how Ronaldo massively boosted Al Nassr on social media, hours after the transfer announcement.

The Saudi Arabian club was struggling for followers prior to announcing the superstar's signing on Friday.

After a photo of the five-time Ballon d'Or winner was posted to their Instagram account, this number has ballooned to more than 3-million followers as of December 31.