“We live in a historic moment”: between the hype and the sale of T-shirts is already the effect of Ronaldo in Saudi Arabia

Cristiano Ronaldo has only played a few hours for the Saudi Al-Nasr club, but already Abdulmohsen al-Ayiban and his son, like many others, have bought a T-shirt of their favorite team with the name of the Portuguese star and its emblem N.7.

“We are living in a historic moment,” Ayiban, 41, enthuses AFP, who waits for the famous blue and yellow jersey in the club’s crowded official store with his 9-year-old son Nayef.

This pick-up will “raise the level of the Saudi Arabian championship”, he says, convinced like many of his compatriots that Ronaldo’s presence will create the competition that will see Saudi Arabia win the 2030 World Cup.

Nayef only looks at his club. “I always wanted Al-Nasr to sign the best player in the world,” he told AFP. Now that the job is done, he continues, I will attend all of his matches at the stadium.

If Ronaldo, 37, signs his two-and-a-half-year deal with Al-Nasr in Madrid and earns a staggering €200m salary, the five-time Ballon d’Or winner should quickly join his new teammates.

As of Thursday, according to the manager, who speaks on condition of anonymity, the matter is so sensitive in the country that this high-profile transfer is making a fanfare record on the map of world football.

“I’ve never seen anything like it”

For many in the kingdom, 2022 is definitely the year of Saudi football: CR7 will soon play in the Saudi Arabian Championship and the national team had the opportunity to beat (2:1) in their first match of the 2022 World Cup in Qatar. Argentina Lionel Messi, future world champion.

Since Friday, when the Saudi press began leaking Ronaldo’s imminent signing, the Al-Nassr store has been stormed by Saudi fans as well as Lebanese, Egyptian or Chinese expatriates, his boss Abdelkader told AFP.

“I’ve never seen anything like this in my life,” he says, stunned that stock has run out, forcing shoppers to come in with their T-shirts just to add flocking. He warns that, given the crowds, most will have to wait up to two days to collect their precious tunic.

“I have been a fan of Ronaldo since childhood and now the Saudi club I support has bought him: I am doubly happy,” said 23-year-old student Mohammad al-Joni.

“This purchase confirms the importance of Al-Nasr,” Rakan Mohammad, 21, also a university student, wants to believe. Impatience and anticipation are running high.”

“For the history books”

Without a club since the termination of his contract with Manchester United at the end of November, the five-time Champions League winner, passing Manchester United (2003–09 and 2021–22), Real Madrid (2009–18) and Juventus Turin (2018) -21) confused everyone.

And Al-Nasr is already beginning to feel the effects: his social media following has skyrocketed in a matter of hours. On Instagram, their number has grown from 800,000 to 4 million. “We felt the impact of this recruitment even before Ronaldo arrived in Saudi Arabia and it will continue to grow,” 19-year-old Ahmed Al-Zabani told AFP.

On Instagram, some are already exploiting the vein with might and main: “A dream come true,” proclaims a store that prints Ronaldo T-shirts in Al-Nasr colors. Under the post, buyers are in a hurry, indicating their size for the order.

In the midst of the Twitter hype, a Saudi internet user is already thinking about the future. Under a photo of Ronaldo showing off his new Al-Nasr jersey, he captioned: “Picture for the history books.”