Al Nassr football executive manager Marcelo Salazar has spoken about the “brilliant move” his club made by bringing Cristiano Ronaldo to Saudi Arabia, a “shock for world football.”
“It was a very ambitious move by our club,” the Brazilian-born Salazar told Globoesporte. “I would say brilliant. Because bringing a player of Cristiano Ronaldo’s magnitude to play here in Saudi Arabia really was a shock for world football.
“And this effect was what opened the doors for six months later for players like Karim Benzema, Kanté, Roberto Firmino, Neymar, Malcom,… These guys decided to come and play here.
“It was this visibility that Cristiano brought here to the league and, of course, from the moment that not only the player but his family sees that Cristiano Ronaldo is here with his family, his children study at schools here, families also think: if they live there, so can we.”