The CEO of Al Hilal, Esteve Calzada, has said that trying to sign Cristiano Ronaldo from Al Nassr would have felt very strange. He explained this during an interview with the Spanish newspaper Diario AS.
Calzada said Ronaldo is currently the captain of Al Nassr, which is Al Hilal’s biggest rival. Because of this, it would not be a normal thing to try to bring him into their team.
He compared the rivalry between Al Nassr and Al Hilal to the one between Real Madrid and Atletico Madrid in Spain. Just like those two Spanish clubs are strong rivals and don’t usually sign each other’s top players, it’s the same in Saudi Arabia.
There had been talk that Al Hilal might try to surprise fans by making a move for Ronaldo before the Club World Cup. But Calzada said that kind of move is not common when you respect the rivalry.
In his words, “Al Nassr is like Atletico and Al Hilal is like Real Madrid. So signing a key player like Ronaldo from your main rival would be very unusual.”
Cristiano Ronaldo’s contract with Al Nassr is expected to end in June. However, based on Calzada’s comments, a switch to Al Hilal doesn’t seem likely.
