When Cristiano Ronaldo was asked about his future in football in 2023, as a 38-year-old having not long started his venture at Al Nassr, he revealed his plan to one day become the owner of a football club.
‘I don’t rule out becoming a club owner,’ Ronaldo said. ‘It’s something I thought about a few years back. I probably would like to own a [football] club. I’m at the end of my career, two to three years maximum.’
It’s now been three years.
On Thursday morning, Ronaldo’s roadmap to retirement has become clearer, and he has done exactly what he said he would do.
Ronaldo’s ownership dream has come to fruition: he has purchased a 25 per cent stake in Spanish second-division side UD Almeria through his CR7 Sports Investments company.
The purchase figure hasn’t been disclosed, but it marks Ronaldo’s return to Spanish football after nine trophy-laden seasons at Real Madrid before he left for Juventus in the summer of 2018.
Cristiano Ronaldo has taken a step toward retirement after a staggering 24-year-long career
Ronaldo, 41, has acquired a 25 per cent stake in Spanish side UD Almeria
‘It has been a longtime ambition of mine to contribute to football, beyond the pitch,’ the Al-Nassr and Portugal captain said in a statement.
‘UD Almeria is a Spanish club with strong foundations and clear potential for growth. I look forward to working alongside the leadership team to support the club’s next phase of growth.’
It is the latest hint that Ronaldo’s historic playing career could soon be at an end, with this a clear indication of him setting up a life for when he eventually decides to hang up his boots.
The five-time Ballon d’Or winner has already stated that the World Cup this summer will ‘definitely’ be his last, and while he is still ‘enjoying the moment’ when it comes to playing football, he believes he only has a further year or two left in the legs.
They are the same legs that he joked he could play 10 further years in just last year, but even the most in-shape 41-year-old you will ever see in football knows that he can’t play on forever.
Ronaldo has made it clear as day for years now that he has wanted to move into ownership, and the legwork for his new venture arguably began back in 2022 after his acrimonious exit from Manchester United.
Reports suggest that Mohamed Al Khereiji, a Saudi businessman, played a role in finalising Ronaldo’s big-money move to Al Nassr, and the pair have remained close ever since.
Al Khereiji leads the Saudi investment group, SMC, which last year acquired Almeria from Turki Al-Sheikh, who is a Saudi government official and now plays an influential role in setting up boxing’s biggest fights.
‘We are very pleased that Cristiano has chosen our club to invest in,’ said Al Khereiji. ‘He is regarded as the greatest to ever play the game, he knows the Spanish leagues very well and he understands the potential of what we are building here both in terms of the team and the academy.’
Following retirement, coaching and punditry are normally the two viable career options for players. It is very rare for ex-players to venture into ownership.
However, much like David Beckham, who owns MLS side Inter Miami, and Real Madrid star Kylian Mbappe, who has a majority stake in SM Caen, Ronaldo has both the personal brand and financial power to assume an ownership position.
Ronaldo’s lucrative career had led him to a stratosphere of his own financially. He is the best-paid player in the sport’s history, being paid an annual salary of £177million.
It is said that he is worth £1.04bn after finance experts Bloomberg took a deep dive into his career earnings, investments and endorsement deals and they were all adjusted for prevailing tax rates and market performance.
They have previously reported that Ronaldo’s astronomical money in Saudi Arabia has ‘catapulted him to the top of the rankings for highest-earning sportspeople’.
He is the first footballer in their new Bloomberg Billionaires Index and they note that his wealth now significantly eclipses long-time rival Lionel Messi after the Argentine opted to move to the US with Inter Miami.
Ronaldo’s links to Saudi Arabia spanning back to 2022 may have helped him secure his dream of becoming a club owner
Ronaldo has a lifetime deal with Nike, reported to be worth £745m in total – by far his biggest agreement with any company. There are partnerships with Tag Heuer, Armani, PokerStars, Samsung, Unilever, Louis Vuitton and many, many more.
He is also currently building an extraordinary, sprawling complex back home costing £28m, of which the lavish renderings have been shared and is often seen draped in the world’s most expensive jewellery and watches, including a Franck Muller Invisible Baguette Diamonds Imperial Tourbillon – worth £1.13m.
Ronaldo’s longevity, of course, has only helped him add to his fortune, but he’s more than happy to splash the cash he’s rolling in. While it is yet to be known how much he is investing in Almeria, it’s likely to be just pocket money for one of the sport’s best-ever players.
He has also invested in a property on the Portuguese Riviera with the dream of building a ‘hospital-sized’ mansion in Quinta da Marinha – but the project is over two years behind schedule.
A number of CGI images of what the property might look like when completed have been shared by Ronaldo’s supporters, eager for a glimpse of the future, but for now, the project remains a building site, as well as a nuisance to his neighbours.
Ronaldo’s mansion is set to include a giant glass swimming pool with an underwater walkway, and a master bedroom measuring 1,000 square feet as part of what is believed to be Portugal’s most expensive property development.
The comfortable life of luxury off the pitch shows no sign of slowing down, while he continually builds his portfolio off it.
Ronaldo’s step into club ownership comes 14 months after he hinted at one day delving into that role at Manchester United.
Speaking at the Dubai Globe Soccer Awards in December 2024, he said the club’s struggles weren’t just down to on-pitch issues – with the problems far greater than that.
‘[The] Premier League it’s the most difficult league in the world,’ he said. ‘All the teams are good, all the teams fight, all the teams run, all the teams are strong. Football is different right now. There’s no easy games any more.
‘They need, I said this one year and a half ago, and I will continue to say it: The problem is not the coaches, it’s like… I always give this example… it’s like an aquarium.
‘If you have the fish inside and he’s sick and you take him out and you fix the problem and you put him again in an aquarium, you will be sick again. The problem of Manchester United is the same. The problem is not always the coach. It’s much more than that.
Ronaldo (pictured with fiancee Georgina Rodríguez) has built a life of luxury outside of football due to his fortune
Ronaldo is believed to worth £1.04bn which means a small stake in Almeria will likely cost him just pocket change
‘If I will be the owner of the club, I will make things clear and adjust things that are bad there.’
Those words followed his TalkTV interview with Piers Morgan in 2021 that served as the final nail in the coffin for his second spell at United, where Ronaldo alleged co-owners Joel and Avram Glazer ‘don’t care’ about the club.
‘The owners of the club, the Glazers, they don’t care about the club,’ he said. ‘I mean, professional sport, as you know this, Manchester (United) is a marketing club.
‘They will get its money from the marketing – the sport, they don’t really care, in my opinion.’
‘You have some things inside the club which don’t help Manchester (United) reach the top level as City, Liverpool and even now Arsenal, for example… which is complicated, it’s difficult.’
