Very few players end their careers in glory. Clubs can be brutal in offloading those whose usefulness has expired. Often the end, accepting that the body is no longer capable of doing what once it did, comes with a sense of bitterness. Yet there seems a special sadness in the news that Cristiano Ronaldo has signed for the Saudi club Al-Nassr.
Only last summer, Ronaldo turned down a move to Saudi Arabia, insisting he still had a role to play at Manchester United and that even if Erik ten Hag didn’t want him, there were a host of other European clubs lining up to sign him. A single-minded belief he could be the best, that he was the best, defined Ronaldo’s career. It was what drove him to become the physical specimen he did, what made him one of the greatest goalscorers the game has known, but by last summer it had become self-delusion.
Ten Hag was, seemingly, keen to work with Ronaldo, even though his hard-pressing style demands the sort of sense of defensive responsibility Ronaldo has rarely demonstrated. It didn’t take long, though, for their relationship to sour. Ronaldo left a pre-season friendly at half-time, his ego leading him to a tantrum. Ten Hag tried to work with him, but it didn’t work. He came off the bench in the defeat to Brighton and started the 4–0 reverse at Brentford, when he was dispossessed in the build-up to the fairest goal. He started only three further Premier League games: a defeat to Aston Villa, a 0–0 draw with Newcastle and a fortuitous 1–0 win over West Ham. Another early departure after being asked to come on late as a substitute effectively ended his United career.
