CRISTIANO RONALDO returned from his self-imposed exhile to score in Al Nassr‘s clash against Al Fateh in just 18 minutes.
The Portugese megastar had missed the games against Al Ittihad and Al Riyadh earlier this month over the lack of financial support for the club in the recent transfer window.
After scoring from a Sadio Mane cutback, Ronaldo pointed to himself and then pointed to the ground, intimating that he is staying with the Saudi club.
ESPN reported that the Manchester United legend had been unhappy with the Saudi Arabia Public Investment Fund (PIF) for failing to invest in the team.
Meanwhile, rivals Al Hilal – who are also 75% majority owned by the PIF -brought in his former Real Madrid teammate Karim Benzema from Al Ittihad and he scored on his debut.
The club did spend last summer as names like Kingsley Coman, Joao Felix and Mohamed Simaken, but the lack of honours for Al-Nassr during Ronaldo’s tenure is clearly grating on the legendary forward.
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He ultimately decided to return to the pitch for Saturday’s league match after the PIF met some of his demands: the payment of Al Nassr’s overdue salaries and allowing the club’s top executives to run the club unimpeded.
Ronaldo scored the 962nd goal of career leaving him just 38 goals away from breaking the 1,000 goal barrier he is so desperate to hit.
His strike for Al-Nassr is also his first as a 41-year-old.
It’s worth remembering Ronaldo earns a staggering £488,000-a-day in Saudi Arabia and is the highest earning footballer in the world today.
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But despite his strike, Portugal boss Roberto Martinez insists Ronaldo is not difficult to manage.
He told BBC Sport: ‘It is very easy, because of his high standards, his expectations of how the work should be done and his commitment to the game.
“He truly is an example of what you should do to represent Portugal and the national team. And now he’s adapted, obviously, after 21 years in the national team – he’s adjusted.
“He’s a goalscorer, he’s an important player for us, and it’s the player that he is now that is important for me.
“As a national team coach, a player that has scored 25 goals in the last 30 international games, it’s not that he’s playing because of what he’s done in the past, it’s what he’s done now.”
Al-Nassr ended up winning the game 2-0. Ronaldo is now third in the Saudi goalscoring charts with 18 goals in 17 games, but Ivan Toney sits at the top with 20 goals from 20 appearances.