“It wouldn’t surprise me” - Gary Neville names 2 cities in the U.S. where Cristiano Ronaldo could finish his career after Al-Nassr contract runs out

Former Manchester United player Gary Neville has named two cities in the United States where Cristiano Ronaldo could finish his career after his contract with Al-Nassr runs out. Neville opined that Ronaldo could move to New York or Los Angeles and close the curtain on his illustrious career.

Ronaldo is unarguably one of the best footballers of all time, having dominated the sport with his rival Lionel Messi for over a decade. However, the Portuguese captain is close to retirement, as he will be 40 by February 2025. Despite being in the twilight year of his career, Ronaldo is in the Saudi Pro League with Al-Nassr.

Ronaldo’s archrival Messi is currently plying his trade in Major League Soccer. In an exclusive interview with GOAL, Neville was asked if Ronaldo should play in MLS, to which he responded:

"Cristiano Ronaldo has dominated in England. He scored goals in Italy, scored goals in Spain. He's now scoring goals in the Middle East. There's only really sort of the U.S. left, isn't there? That guy, to be fair, doesn't stop. I still think he'll be playing in a year or so when his contract runs out in Saudi.

It wouldn't surprise me at all if Cristiano Ronaldo rocked up in New York, L.A., at one of the big cities, and sort of finished his career in the U.S. for a year or two, doing what he does best now, which is score goals."

When the interviewer posited that the United States would explode if Cristiano Ronaldo and Messi played in the MLS at the same time, Neville said:

"Maybe they could play for the same club. That'll cost a few quid."

Ronaldo’s contract with Al-Nassr will expire next summer. Up to date, he has scored 68 goals and provided 18 assists for the Knights of Najd across competitions.

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Cristiano Ronaldo could move to Al-Hilal amid Neymar’s exit in a bid to win the 2025 FIFA Club World Cup – Reports

According to Sky Sports News chief reporter Kaveh Solhekol, Cristiano Ronaldo could eye a move from Al-Nassr to fellow Saudi Pro League club Al-Hilal in order to feature in the 2025 FIFA Club World Cup. The next FIFA Club World Cup is scheduled to be played in the United States from June 15 to July 13, 2025.

The 21st edition of the FIFA Club World Cup will incorporate some changes as the number of participating teams will be expanded to 32. Since 2005, the competition has been played annually in December. FIFA president Gianni Infantino suggested rescheduling it to June/July and increasing the number of participating teams so as to make it more attractive to broadcasters and sponsors.

The United States will host the upcoming edition of the FIFA World Cup. Lionel Messi’s Inter Miami was a confirmed participant of the tournament by FIFA after it won the Supporters’ Shield. Al-Nassr’s fierce rival Al-Hilal also qualified for the competition after winning the 2021 AFC Champions League.

According to the abovementioned source, Cristiano Ronaldo could be ruminating about wanting to play in the 2025 FIFA Club World Cup given the fact that it’s a new edition and that his rival Messi will feature in the tournament. To this end, the 39-year-old could be considering moving to Al-Hilal to make playing in the 2025 FIFA Club World Cup a possibility.

Ronaldo’s contract with Al-Nassr will expire at the end of next season. Adding to the intrigue, FIFA has announced that there will be a special transfer window for 2025 FIFA Club World Cup teams that will run from June 1 to June 10 in 2025. These extra ten days of transfers given by FIFA could make this a possibility.

Also, Al-Hilal is reportedly considering parting ways with Neymar following his injury troubles, which means it could want to make Ronaldo its reference point in the tournament. Kaveh Solhekol also noted that there are people at FIFA—the commercial sponsors and partners—who would want Ronaldo and Messi at the tournament.