Ronaldo 'could backtrack' on refusal to join Saudi club

Football superstar Cristiano Ronaldo may reconsider a deal to play for a leading Saudi club which would have made him the highest-paid footballer in the world, according to British media.

Riyadh-based club Al-Hilal offered the Manchester United player a contract worth £210 million, which would have meant he would have made £1.7 million a week.

However, he rejected the deal because he did not want to play for a team that was not competing in the UEFA Champions League, after making his desire to leave Manchester United public in the summer.

Major teams such as Chelsea, Bayern Munich, Paris Saint-Germain and Atletico Madrid all refused the chance to sign Ronaldo throughout the most recent window.

According to The Mirror, he could potentially backtrack his initial decision to reject Al-Hilal based on the limited options around him.

Saudi Football Federation president Yasser Al-Misehal recently said the offer is still on the table for Ronaldo.

"We would love to see a player like Cristiano Ronaldo playing in the Saudi league. It would bring a huge positive feedback and it would be big news for everyone," Al-Misehal told The Athletic in an article published on Monday.

"I'm sure everyone knows the achievements and records of Cristiano Ronaldo, but also as a player who is a great role model. I think, 'Why not?'. I'm sure it would be a very expensive deal, of course, but we can see our clubs getting higher revenues in the past couple of years."

He added that there have already been some big football names who used to play in the Premier League who transferred over to the Saudi league.

"It wouldn't be an easy transaction for a Saudi club or even for him, but we would love to see him or even some other top players of the same level."