Cristiano Ronaldo transfer would have been ‘counter-intuitive’

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·17 Juni 2025

Cristiano Ronaldo transfer would have been ‘counter-intuitive’

Cristiano Ronaldo moving to Al-Hilal for the FIFA Club World Cup in the summer transfer window would have been “completely counter-intuitive”, the club’s chief executive has said.

The Saudi Pro League outfit attempted to sign the former Manchester United star on a short-term loan so that he could play at the tournament, but could not pull off a deal.

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Ronaldo revealed that he received offers from a number of participating teams as he nears the end of his current contract, but has since confirmed that he will be remaining at Al-Nassr.

Cristiano Ronaldo transfer would have been ‘counter-intuitive’

“We normally don’t comment on players’ situations, particularly because our name is always put out there, when a player or an agent wants to negotiate a better deal with his club, or is trying to move out,” Esteve Calzada told BBC Sport when asked if Al-Hilal came close to signing Ronaldo.

“It’s been a very weird transfer window, it’s a very short period of time.

“You don’t want to take a decision thinking about this tournament that then you have to carry on with for the next two or three years.

“As much as I respect Ronaldo as a huge player, as we all recognise he is, it’s certainly completely counter-intuitive that you bring the biggest player of your biggest opponent to play with you. Even more when it’s only for three to four weeks.”

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Al-Hilal, who have been grouped with Ronaldo’s former club Real Madrid, Pachuca and Salzburg in the Club World Cup, made efforts to sign a number of new players ahead of the tournament, but were ultimately unsuccessful.

“We’ve been trying to see if we can reinforce the team. But some players were with a mindset of ‘holidays already’, some players were sometimes just asking for too much money, and we’re aware that our team is extremely competitive.

“We’ll go into the traditional transfer window after the tournament still with the biggest ambitions to see if we can reinforce the team even more.”