03 January 2023 , 15:53
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Cristiano Ronaldo is continuing to distance himself from long-term representative Jorge Mendes following his move to Al-Nassr.
The Portuguese icon has been represented by his compatriot for nearly two decades and has been the star attraction of his Gestifute stable. However, reports have emerged that the relationship between the pair has been steadily deteriorating for more than a year.
A Bola report that Mendes had attempted to negotiate a move to Saudi Arabia in the summer of 2021, only for his client to end up at Manchester United. Less than a year later, the onus was back on the super-agent to engineer his exit from Old Trafford.
Mendes was called in for emergency crisis talks at United’s Carrington training base last summer, with Ronaldo ultimately remaining with the Premier League club. That was merely a delay of the inevitable, though, and Ronaldo’s Red Devils contract was terminated in November following an explosive interview with Piers Morgan.
At that point, it was expected that the former Real Madrid superstar would secure a move to a Champions League club. It quickly became apparent however, that the market for the veteran striker was not as anticipated.
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And last week, Ronaldo’s blockbuster £173 million-per-year contract with Al-Nassr was confirmed. "I am fortunate that I have won everything I set out to win in European football," he explained following the move. "I feel now that this is the right moment to share my experience in Asia."
He added: "Al-Nassr's vision is very inspiring and impressive. I look forward to a different league experience in a different country. I am excited to join my team-mates as soon as possible."
Cristiano Ronaldo was with both Jorgen Mendes and Ricardo Regufe for crisis talks at Man Utd last year (PA)But according to reports from Portugal, Mendes will not be financially rewarded for the move after Ronaldo hired a new manager, Ricardo Regufe. It is stated Regufe - who met Ronaldo when he was still at Madrid - will pocket a whopping a £26m commission.
Regufe was part of Ronaldo's entourage for those talks at United's training HQ, but now appears to have taken a more prominent role within his camp.
Ronaldo is set to be officially presented as an Al-Nassr player on Tuesday in front of supporters at the club’s 25,000-seater stadium. He will also meet manager Rudi Garcia for the first time and the Frenchman could be in for a frosty reception after
Ronaldo spent time celebrating specifically with Regufe after Portugal won Euro 2016 in Paris (Eric Verhoeven/Soccrates/Getty Images)Garcia has previously spoken positively about Ronaldo though, revealing he was close to getting the chance to coach him at United. "I can't say anything about Cristiano because otherwise it would immediately appear in the headlines: 'García: about Ronaldo'. What I see is that it has been a soap opera and it has been a very important promotion for Al Nassr.
"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. They chose Ralf Rangnick, but I met twice with John Murtough and Darren Fletcher.
"Nothing special, but I have always thought that the great players are the easiest to manage because they are very intelligent, I verified this with Francesco Totti at Roma. At the moment, the goal with Al Nassr is simple: win titles.”