Cristiano Ronaldo’s ex-Manchester United teammate takes up new job at Al-Nassr, shares update on social media

Cristiano Ronaldo's former teammate at Manchester United Mikael Silvestre has been reunited with the Portuguese forward at Al-Nassr, as per an update he shared. The former defender announced the launch of Al-Nassr's dedicated channel, Nassr TV, in conjunction with DAZN, on Instagram on Friday, October 25th.

Silvestre shared the pitch 138 times with Cristiano Ronaldo at Manchester United between 2003 and 2008. He then left for rivals Arsenal, while Ronaldo joined Real Madrid a year later. The Frenchman retired from professional football in 2014 after a stint with Indian outfit Chennaiyin and has gone into the business side of the game since.

As revealed on Instagram, his latest engagement is with Al-Nassr as he has played a role in the development of the club's dedicated streaming channel, Nassr TV. The channel promises exclusive news, updates, as well as match highlights, just as clubs in Europe have done in recent years.

Mikael Silvestre worked as Director of Football for Rennes in 2015, shortly after his retirement from active football. He left the role in 2016 to set up an agency, with which he represented young players and athletes.

Al-Nassr have continued to attract former footballers to work with the club in various capacities. The employment of former Real Madrid captain Fernando Hierro as the club's Director of Football earlier this year is another pointer to this fact.

Cristiano Ronaldo remains the biggest selling point for the club, who are hunting a league title for a third successive season with the 39-year-old. The five-time Ballon d'Or winner does not appear to be slowing down with age, with nine goals and three assists in 11 appearances across competitions. He has become the face of the club, and the Saudi Pro League.

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Former Manchester United star lauds Cristiano Ronaldo for career so far

Former Manchester United defender Nemanja Vidic has praised former teammate Cristiano Ronaldo for the career he eked out for himself. The retired defender shared a locker room with the Portuguese forward for years at Old Trafford and shared the pitch 131 times with him.

Vidic joined Manchester United in 2006, at a time when Ronaldo was beginning to blossom as one of the world's best wingers. He spoke on Rio Presents about how he saw the forward change his game from being a winger with flair to becoming a successful goal machine. Vidic said:

"If you remember when Cristiano arrived, he was obviously a player similar to Berbatov, who seemed to enjoy playing beautiful football, with his skills and his dribbling. His priority was not to score goals. The last two years of his career at United... he had totally changed. He was ready to go to Madrid and I certainly saw that he would do well."

"I didn't expect him to do so well for so many years, he always had a mentality where he wanted to be the best footballer in the world. And he didn't hide it. He wasn't even afraid to say it in the locker room."

Cristiano Ronaldo won the Ballon d'Or in his last season at Manchester United, making him the last player from the Premier League to achieve this honor. He went on to win it four more times before leaving Europe for Saudi Arabia in January 2023.