Cristiano Ronaldo and Lionel Messi will be playing in different continents in the year 2023. However, the two greats of the game can once again meet each other on a football pitch on January 19. Paris Saint-Germain (PSG) are likely to travel to Saudi Arabia for a friendly clash against combined eleven of teams Al Nassr and Al Hilal. While Messi has extended his contract with PSG for one year, Ronaldo has signed the biggest contract in the history of football with Saudi Arabian club Al Nassr. Fans were hoping to see the duo face each other in the FIFA World Cup 2022 but that could not happen. However, it can happen in January 2023 when PSG will travel to Saudi Arabia.
After days of speculation, Al Nassr on Friday (December 30) announced the blockbuster signing of the Portuguese icon with picture on their social media. Cristiano Ronaldo joined the club as a free agent after Manchester United terminated his contract on mutual consent. (What is Ronaldo’s salary? Check here)
On January 19, PSG played a friendly against a combined XI from Al Nassr and Al Hilal.
We could see another clash between Leo Messi and Cristiano Ronaldo.
(Source: @Benayadachraf, pic.twitter.com/y4F70EqOLU— Transfer News Live (@DeadlineDayLive) December 30, 2022
“This is a signing that will not only inspire our club to achieve even greater success but inspire our league, our nation and future generations, boys and girls to be the best version of themselves,” Al Nassr wrote on Twitter.
A breakdown of Cristiano Ronaldo’s two-year contract with Saudi Arabian club Al Nassr;
€200M/year
€16.67M/month
€3.888M/week
€555,555/day
€23,150/hour
€386/minute
€6.5/secondIt’s the BIGGEST CONTRACT EVER in the history of football.#CR7#AlNassr pic.twitter.com/Pf97jUXtoP— FIFA World Cup Stats (@alimo_philip) December 30, 2022
While Messi fulfilled his dream of lifting the FIFA World Cup trophy, Cristiano Ronaldo had a rough year with manchester united and his national team. Portugal were knocked out of the World Cup by underdogs Morocco in the quarterfinals and Ronaldo could not make any impact coming off the bench with just 30 minutes left on the clock.