FIFA Men's World Cup

Cristiano Ronaldo will reportedly join Al Nassr in January

Updated Dec. 6, 2022 8:53 p.m. ET

AL RAYYAN, Qatar — Cristiano Ronaldo has finalized terms on a remarkable move to Saudi Arabian club Al Nassr, according to Spanish media reports.

On the eve of Portugal’s round of 16 clash with Switzerland (Tuesday, 2 p.m. ET on FOX and the FOX Sports App) and less than an hour before a national team press conference, a report from Madrid newspaper Marca stated Ronaldo will officially join Al Nassr on Jan. 1 next year.

Breaking down Ronaldo's move

The "FIFA World Cup Now" crew discuss Cristiano Ronaldo's decision to join Saudi Arabian club Al Nassr in January.

The 37-year-old superstar, universally considered to be one of the best two players of his generation alongside Lionel Messi, left Manchester United before the World Cup after an acrimonious fallout with the club and an explosive departure interview with British journalist Piers Morgan.

It was initially expected he would seek to move to another major European club, but Al Nassr moved quickly to make an offer and appear to have landed its man. The monetary figures were predictably eye-popping, with a salary of $200 million per year being mentioned.

It is expected the Ronaldo will also serve as a promotional ambassador for Saudi Arabia, which is in contention to host the 2030 World Cup.

Ronaldo, as always, has been center of attention during this tournament, and it was no different Monday. Not only did the news of his Saudi move overshadow preparations for the Switzerland game, but details also emerged of an issue with head coach Fernando Santos.

The Ronaldo Effect for Portugal

Former United States player DaMarcus Beasley analyzes Cristiano Ronaldo's performance at the World Cup thus far.

During Portugal s defeat to South Korea in its final group game, television cameras picked up Ronaldo yelling in complaint at being substituted. At the time, Santos believed Ronaldo was merely irked at a South Korean player telling him to leave the field more quickly, but later learned the truth.

"Yes, I didn’t like it, not at all," Santos said Monday. "I really didn’t like it. We dealt with this internally. From that moment onwards, everything is finished — full stop on that issue. It is solved, we fixed it, and that’s it."

However, Santos refused to confirm if Ronaldo would remain as Portugal captain and if indeed he would be in the starting lineup against Switzerland.

"I will only decide who is going to be the captain when I reach the stadium," Santos added. "I don’t know the lineup. That’s what I always do. What I have always done is focus on the immediate match. I am not worried if one report is right or wrong."

Regarding the Al Nassr move, Santos said Ronaldo had not informed him of the situation by the time he left Portugal’s team to travel to the press conference.

"I haven’t spoken to him about this," Santos added. "We had a conversation with the players, but I didn’t know about this. To be honest, someone just told me about it a few minutes ago.

"That’s his decision, that’s what he has to deal with. We are totally focused on the World Cup."

Portugal won each of its first two games against Ghana and Uruguay, before losing to South Korea in a contest that did not affect its position at the top of Group H.

Victory against Switzerland would set up a quarterfinal against the winner of Spain vs. Morocco on Tuesday (10 a.m. ET on FOX and the FOX Sports app).

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Martin Rogers is a columnist for FOX Sports and the author of the FOX Sports Insider newsletter. Follow him on Twitter @MRogersFOX and subscribe to the daily newsletter.