Cristiano Ronaldo joins Al-Nassr: Man Utd icon's impact on new club's Instagram | OneFootball

Cristiano Ronaldo has officially completed his move to Saudi Arabian side Al-Nassr.

The transfer had been rife in rumour mills for weeks now, with the five-time Ballon d’Or winner leaving Manchester United by mutual consent on the eve of the 2022 World Cup.

Ronaldo wanted to remain in Europe to see out the twilight years of his career, but offers from clubs on the continent were few and far between.

So the legend has opted for a move to the Middle East and he’s by far the region’s biggest signing so far.

Ronaldo will earn an enormous pay packet at Al-Nassr. In fact, he’s now the highest-paid footballer in the world – ahead of both Lionel Messi and Kylian Mbappe.

But money is no object for the Saudi side and they know the impact Ronaldo’s arrival will have in the years to come.

The Portugal international is one of the most famous people on the planet and a true global icon.

And the evidence of those facts can already be seen over on Al-Nassr’s official Instagram page.

Since the Ronaldo transfer was made official on Friday, the team currently second in the Saudi Professional League have seen their follower count on the social media platform explode.

, up from less than 1 million in the pre-Ronaldo era.

Ronaldo’s impact on Al-Nassr’s Instagram

Pretty mad, isn’t it?

And a video posted to Twitter shows just how quickly Al-Nassr’s follower count increased soon after the deal was announced.

Video: How quickly did Al-Nassr’s follower count increase after Ronaldo was announced?

In the days to come, we will likely see Al-Nassr’s follower count continue to skyrocket – and don’t be surprised if it’s near 10 million at the start of 2023.

Ronaldo is actually the most followed person on Instagram, so while the evidence above is rather bonkers, it also shouldn’t come as much of a surprise.

The 37-year-old currently has 526 million followers, with Messi only on 412 million – and that’s after his epic World Cup win.

However, the Argentine’s post with the trophy is the most liked in history.

We can’t see Ronaldo pipping his eternal rival to that accolade anytime soon…

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