Signed with Riyadh Victory until 2025

Is Ronaldo the right bet to join the Saudi giants?

　　On the last day of 2022, another earth-shattering event happened in world football.

After countless revelations and repeated rumors, Ronaldo finally came to the Saudi League and joined the country's giant team Riyadh Victory. The two parties signed a contract until 2025.

Ronaldo will be 40 years old by then.

Spending the last three years of his career on the Asian football field, Ronaldo took a gamble. Is it really worth it for the honored Ronaldo to do so?

　　Ronaldo's annual salary is close to 200 million euros?

　　"I'm eager to experience new football in a different country. The vision of winning in Riyadh is exciting and I look forward to joining my team-mates and helping the club achieve more victories." That's what Ronaldo said in a short interview, here The "vision" mentioned is actually quite profound, and everyone's understanding is also different.

Some people may think that Ronaldo himself came here because of the lucrative contract offered by the Saudi giants, and some people believe that Ronaldo may really be here to enjoy football. After all, he is not short of money with a net worth of over 100 million.

There are indeed many possibilities for him to make this decision, but no matter what the reason is, it is indeed a brand new experience for him to come to Asia, and he does bear a lot of risks.

If he really can't integrate or there are some other problems, his past perfect career may not be able to draw a perfect end.

　　According to the official announcement, Ronaldo and Riyadh Victory signed a contract until 2025.

It was previously reported that Ronaldo's annual salary is close to 200 million euros.

Among them, the salary is about 1/3, and the others include business opportunities and endorsement income.

　　At present, the "president" has accepted the first part of the medical examination, the two parties are finalizing the remaining details of the contract, and the club is still applying for a visa for him.

The second part of the medical examination will take place in Riyadh.

　　Will become Asia's biggest star

　　Although the entire transfer process and procedures are still proceeding step by step, Ronaldo's landing in the Middle East League has become a foregone conclusion, that is to say, he is about to become the biggest star in Asian football.

Although some famous European or South American players came to Qatar or Saudi Arabia to seek gold in the twilight years of their careers, compared to Ronaldo, they are nothing compared to Ronaldo in terms of fame and personal achievements.

So can he really make it here?

　　Discussions on such topics have now appeared on the hot search lists of different social media. Some media and experts predict that even if Ronaldo seems unable to gain a foothold in the top five leagues, he will come to a team with less overall competitiveness. In the Asian football arena, he should still succeed in a relatively easy way. After all, the strength of the "president" lies there, and this is his deliberate choice.

At least from his point of view, there is no reason to "play bad", otherwise he would be sorry for his big contract of several hundred million.

　　But there are also different voices pointing out that Ronaldo came here, in fact, is no different from those "outdated" players before. He just came to complete the last big contract of his career. From a purely competitive level, there may not be any outstanding players. which performed.

The reason why the Saudi club signed him is nothing more than that he has a higher exposure and can get what they need.

Of course, this is also a gamble.

　　Riyadh Victory has signing experience

　　Fortunately, Riyadh Victory still has some experience in introducing European players.

There are many familiar faces in the team. Among them, the most well-known by Chinese fans is the Brazilian player Talisca who once played for Guangzhou Evergrande (now the Guangzhou team). Waist Gustavo, Cameroon striker Abubakar who participated in this World Cup, and Colombian goalkeeper Ospina also played in the team.

The team's current head coach is also an "acquaintance" in European football. The 58-year-old Frenchman Rudi Garcia is leading the team to keep moving forward.

　　Ronaldo wrote such a sentence on his personal social platform, which is also meaningful, "I am fortunate to have won everything I want in European football. I feel that now is the right time to come to Asia to share my experience." Whether this "holding hands" can achieve the expected goal, and whether his experience can help this Saudi giants team.

　　observe

　　What will Ronaldo's arrival bring to Asian football?

　　Saudi Arabia defeated Argentina, Japan defeated Germany, and South Korea beat Uruguay to advance to the round of 16. This is the performance of Asian teams in the World Cup in Qatar.

The continuous highlight moments make people exclaim. It turns out that Asian football has good strength. Although the exposure does not seem to be as high as the five major European leagues, and the level is not as strong as that of South American teams, but on the stage of the World Cup, several Asian teams ( The performance of the AFC is really impressive.

Now the arrival of Ronaldo is bound to further increase the exposure of Asian football. This is also a rare development opportunity, and it depends on how to use it.

　　Is the attention and exposure of Asian football not high?

Not really.

In the early 1990s, Zico, known as "White Bailey", played for the Japanese team Kashima Antlers in the last year of his career. , ushered in the second small "climax".

Compared with the development trend of "going out", this "bringing in" model has also begun to be adopted in different countries in Asia. Asian football, whose "exposure" has increased year after year, has ushered in a good development. Chance.

　　Over the past 20 years, major leagues in Asia have had heavyweight foreign aid and even top-notch stars, and they have played an important role in promoting the development of football in the country or region.

For example, the Indian Premier League suddenly became a topical event around 2015. It has been "hot" for a long time. When I saw Trezeguet, Del Piero and Pires playing football, the attention of football naturally increased.

　　Of course, the Chinese Super League is also mentioned here. Although in the past three years, due to the superposition of many reasons, the attention of the Chinese Super League has long been "not what it used to be", and almost all high-level foreign players have left.

But in the previous period of time, the Chinese arena has attracted much attention.

The number of teenagers who end up opting for football training is also slowly increasing, which is a positive and slightly reassuring sign.

　　There is no doubt that Ronaldo's coming to play in the Asian League this time will definitely have a positive effect on the development of Saudi football and Asian football, but "Golden Dollar Football" is not a panacea. After all, Asia cannot keep Ronaldo forever , Even if he really plays until 2025, it will only be two years.

How to develop your own football with the exposure that Ronaldo brings to Asian football is the problem that all Asian football practitioners need to think about and solve.

(Beijing Youth Daily article/Reporter Zhang Kunlong)