Al Nassr manager speaks on Cristiano amid Saudi Arabia links

• Cristiano Ronaldo has been heavily linked with a mega money move to Saudi Arabia outfit Al Nassr
• Those reports have since been rubbished by the five-time Ballon d’Or winner’s team as he continues to look for a new club
• His deal with Manchester United was terminated in November by mutual consent

Al Nassr manager Rudi Garcia has spoken for the first time on the daunting reports linking Cristiano Ronaldo to his club.

Ronaldo, currently a free agent, will have no choice but to focus on looking for a new club after Portugal exited the World Cup in Qatar after a painful defeat to Morocco in the quarter finals.

The 37-year-old went into the World Cup at the back of an explosive interview he did with Piers Morgan where he comprehensively slammed Manchester United and the club’s manager Erik Ten Hag.

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Since then, controversy has followed the former Real Madrid man, who lost his place in Portugal’s starting XI in the build up to Portugal’s shock World Cup exit.

Despite Ronaldo’s past transgressions with his Erik Ten Hag and Portugal coach Fernando Santos, Garcia insists any club would be lucky to have the forward in their team.

"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.” He told AS as quoted on Daily Mail.

According to Garcia, he came close to reuniting with Ronaldo at Manchester United last year but the club decided to go with Ralf Rangnick as their interim boss.

“They chose Ralf Rangnick, but I met twice with John Murtough and Darren Fletcher [United's director of football and technical director respectively].” He added.

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Garcia has a decent CV under his belt as he previously managed Roma from 2013 to 2016 before taking charge of French outfit Marseille.

Cristiano Ronaldo in Real Madrid

Elsewhere, Sports Brief reported on Cristiano Ronaldo’s latest destination as the superstar was spotted training in Real Madrid.

Ronaldo, who departed Madrid four seasons ago, trained on a separate pitch as he puts himself through the paces, waiting for a new chapter in the twilight of his career.

The 37-year-old entered the ongoing World Cup as a free agent on the back of an explosive interview with British broadcaster Piers Morgan, which led to the mutual termination of his contract with Manchester United.