President Al-Hilal Confirms Negotiated With Cristiano Ronaldo

Manchester United player, Cristiano Ronaldo. (Instagram/@cristiano)

JAKARTA President Al-Hilal Fahad ben Nafel confirmed that his club had negotiated with Cristiano Ronaldo during the summer transfer window.

Ronaldo did want to leave Manchester United. Apart from the big European teams, the 37-year-old was also linked with several clubs from the Middle East.

Al-Hilal has even spoken with Ronaldo's representatives regarding the possibility of moving to the Pro Arab League. However, the move eventually failed to be realized.

"Yes, we negotiated with him. The problem is not on money or principles," said Nafel as quoted by Sportskeeda.

"Al-Hilal was able to bring in world stars, but in the decision of the Center for Sport Arbitration which prevented us from registering him as a player," he added.

During last summer, Ronaldo wanted to join the club that won the European Champions League this season. However, he ended up staying at Old Trafford after being rejected by teams such as Chelsea, Atletico Madrid, and Bayern Munich.

After failing to move, Ronaldo's performance under coach Erik ten Hag slumped sharply. He just started in three cross-competition games.

In addition, the former Real Madrid player also scored just one goal from the penalty spot when Manchester United secured a 2-0 win over Sheriff Tiraspol in the UEFA European League.