The cost of hiring Cristiano Ronaldo for a day is eye-watering

Long before Cristiano Ronaldo moved to Al Nasr, he was receiving a large sum of money from a company in Saudi Arabia.

The former Manchester United and Real Madrid striker is a marketing machine who has brought a new set of eyes to Middle Eastern football.

On the pitch, with 38 goals in 44 appearances in all competitions, the five-time Ballon d’Or winner is still going strong at the age of 38.

Broken down by salary, Ronaldo’s daily salary is £514,000 and his hourly salary is £21,400. But incredibly, the rates there are much cheaper than what a company paid for its services in 2017.

The eye-opening book “FootballLeaks” by DER SPIEGEL journalists Rafael Buschmann and Michael Wulzinger exposes the recruitment of some of the world’s most famous figures. Cost details for one.

The book reveals that Saudi telecoms company Mobily has struck a deal with Ronaldo’s Irish image rights company Multisports & Image Management.

Mobily was allowed to use images taken that day, but advertising was limited to regional areas as the publication was limited to the Middle East and North Africa.

For all of the above, Ronaldo and his representatives charged the company a whopping £920,000. Not shabby at all.

So far in the 2023/24 season, Al Nasr has scored 34 points in 14 games and currently ranks second in the Saudi Professional League standings, behind leader Al Hilal.