Cristiano Ronaldo – Perhaps off the pitch a Newcastle United transfer could begin to make sense | OneFootball

It has been widely speculated in the last 48 hours that Cristiano Ronaldo has a clause in his contract with new Saudi Arabia club Al Nassr. that means he could join Newcastle United on loan for the 2023/24 season, should we qualify for the UEFA Champions League.

With Eddie Howe’s side currently riding high in the Premier League, there is a strong possibility that Newcastle could find themselves back in Europe’s top competition at the start of next season.

While the story of Ronaldo’s clause has been disputed by many, including by manager Eddie Howe following last night’s 0-0 draw with Arsenal, it seems likely that the club will continue to be linked with players like this in the future.

For while a move for a player like Cristiano Ronaldo doesn’t make a huge amount of sense from a playing perspective, given the five time Ballon D’Or winner’s downturn in performance on the field and histrionics off it, it’s perhaps off the pitch where a transfer like this could begin to make sense.

In recent weeks and months, we have heard from Eddie Howe about the restrictions the club may face in future transfer windows, due to financial fair play rules.

Under the ownership of Mike Ashley the club was run very poorly from a commercial standpoint, with very little effort ever seeming to be made to generate major revenue through these channels.

It is clear that the club still has a huge amount to do to catch up with the commercial might of the Premier League’s traditional top six.

Signing a player like Cristiano Ronaldo would undoubtedly help. The power of the Portugese superstar off the pitch is something to behold.

At time of writing, Newcastle United’s Instagram page has 1.3 million followers. Al Nassr’s Instagram following is over 8 million.

What was it before Ronaldo signed for them? Less than a million.

Now fans may scoff at this but in modern day football this stuff matters.

It’s a simple equation.

The more people that follow you, or are interested in your club, the more potential there is to generate commercial revenue. It creates more opportunities to sell tickets and merchandise. All this leads to your club being able to spend more money on players in the transfer market.

Would I want a player like Cristiano Ronaldo, a player in the final stages of his career, at Newcastle United?

From a football perspective, absolutely not.

However, off the pitch a deal like this would make sense from a business and commercial perspective.

To continue to compete at the top level Newcastle United are going to have to find new ways to grow our global audience and bring in new sources of income, so that we can continue to splash the cash and build on the enormous progress that has been made since the club was taken over.