Following Portugal’s World Cup loss, Cristiano Ronaldo has been keeping healthy at Real Madrid’s training facility.
After his agreement with Manchester United was terminated last month, Ronaldo will be free to sign with any team on January 1.
Although it is believed the 37-year-old forward has other choices, Saudi Arabian club Al-Nassr has made a sizable bid for him.
Ronaldo worked out by himself at Real’s headquarters in Valdebebas, and a return to the Spanish team is not a possibility.
After a contentious interview in which the five-time Ballon d’Or winner criticized the team and declared that he had “no regard” for manager Erik ten Hag, Ronaldo’s second stint at Manchester United came to an abrupt end.
Ronaldo started the first three games of Portugal’s World Cup campaign after that, and he reacted violently when he was replaced in the final group game against South Korea.
The Portuguese Football Federation refuted claims that Cristiano Ronaldo threatened to quit the team after learning he wouldn’t start the last-16 match against Switzerland; in his stead, Goncalo Ramos scored a hat-trick in a 6-1 victory.
Ronaldo was thought to be at his final World Cup, in Qatar, and he came off the bench against Switzerland and Morocco, but he couldn’t stop the African team from eliminating Portugal.
That 1-0 upset in the quarter-finals could be Ronaldo’s last World Cup game and he said on social media: “The dream was nice while it lasted”.
In asking Real to use their training facility rather than take a break following Portugal’s early exit, Ronaldo has given a clear indication he is ready to join a new club at the earliest opportunity.
However, that will not be Real, whose all-time leading scorer is Ronaldo with 450 goals in 438 games, during time which he won the Champions League four times and La Liga twice.
Ronaldo made a then-world-record move to Real from Manchester United in 2009 and left for Juventus in 2018.