Al-Hilal, a Saudi Arabian club, has revealed the real explanation for why Cristiano Ronaldo declined to sign with them over the summer.
Al-Hilal claimed to be the previously unidentified Saudi club that made the enormous offer to entice Ronaldo away from Manchester United.
A nameless Saudi team reportedly made the only official offer for the 37-year-old, and they were willing to pay Ronaldo the highest salary in football history.
According to Metro, a two-year deal worth £210 million, or roughly £2 million per week, was offered to the former Real Madrid and Juventus superstar. They were also prepared to pay a transfer fee of £25 million, which is more than United paid Juventus just over a year ago.
Although it was reported that Ronaldo did not want to leave Europe for the time being, the deal never materialised.
But now, Al-Hilal president Fahad ben Nafel has disclosed that although negotiations with Ronaldo had advanced well, a transfer ban had prevented them from finalising the deal.
Speaking on the Thamanya YouTube channel, he said: “Yes, we negotiated with Ronaldo. The problem was not in the money or the principle.
“Al-Hilal is able to bring in the stars of the world, but it was in the decision of the Sports Arbitration Center that prevented us from registering the players.
“We did not stop negotiating with the players despite the decision to ban, but we were delaying entering the final stage of the negotiations until the ban was lifted.”
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