Cristiano Ronaldo could block former Manchester United teammate Mason Greenwood making a move to Saudi Arabia.
Mason Greenwood is looking for a new club after Manchester United announced he would be allowed to leave.
Greenwood is expected to move abroad, with The Times reporting Turkish club Istanbul Basaksehir have registered an interest.
Another option may have been Saudi Arabia. The Sun reported Al-Ettifaq were considering a lucrative offer. This now looks less likely.
Cristiano Ronaldo could block move
The Times reports Saudi Arabia’s attempts to grow it’s women’s league, returning for a second season this October, is unlikely to make Greenwood a wanted player. There is another reason too.
A new report from The Sun claim Cristiano Ronaldo has ‘urged league bosses not to consider making a move for his former teammate.’
The reason for this is due to alleged comments from Greenwood which criticised Ronaldo before they were teammates, which were later revealed after his arrest in 2022.
What Mason Greenwood said about Cristiano Ronaldo
A report in The Athletic last year claimed Greenwood remarked ‘he’s dead’, in reference to Ronaldo while he was in the latter stages of his spell at Real Madrid, slang for saying his career was finished.
The report claimed Manchester United staff stepped in to speak to Greenwood about his choice of words.
While this was just an off-hand comment, and even if Greenwood disputes it, The Athletic‘s report may have done some damage, with The Sun reporting Ronaldo has since taken offence and is not in favour of Saudi bosses pursuing his former teammate.
Ronaldo is hugely influential in the country after leading the Saudi Pro League revolution with his move to Al Nassr earlier this year.
Dream partnership never connected
Cristiano Ronaldo and Mason Greenwood should have been the dream partnership at Manchester United.
It placed the club’s former great, a returning star, alongside the next big thing. But they just did not click.
Moments of link-up were rare, with Greenwood keen prove he was the team’s big star and not pay deference to Ronaldo, while the Portuguese icon’s ego is notorious.
Ronaldo spoke out mid-season in public to criticise young players at the club, which appeared at the time to be a swipe at players like Greenwood who were in danger of not fulfilling their potential.
As it was, Greenwood did not even see out the season, and will never play for United again.