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Odion Ighalo claims that Cristiano Ronaldo sold out by moving to Saudi Arabia.
According to Odion Ighalo, Cristiano Ronaldo relocated to Saudi Arabia not out of a love for the game but merely for financial gain.
Ighalo, who was a player for Al-Hilal, was the best scorer in the Saudi Pro League last season; however, he was dismissed at the conclusion of the season. He now thinks that Ronaldo, who joined Al-Nassr along with Benzema, is doing the same thing, having travelled to the country solely for a paycheck.
Ighalo, 34, said to OmaSportsTV: “When you are young, yes, you play for passion. Back then, you don’t care about money. But at my age, I am in the final stretch of my career, I don’t know if it will be one, two years or when God will tell it to stop.
“I know it won’t be more than three years. I’ve played for passion all my life, now it’s for money. I’m not one of those players who come and say: ‘I play for passion’. Brother, it’s money. At the end of the day, it’s money.
“Is Ronaldo still playing out of passion? Ronaldo has earned 100 times more than I have in my entire life and yet he went to Saudi Arabia. Did he do that out of passion? It’s for money, bro.”
This summer, a number of players have relocated to Saudi Arabia, Jordan Henderson being the most recent. During this transfer window, players like Karim Benzema, N’Golo Kante, Ruben Neves, and Roberto Firmino also arrived in the nation.
With Fabinho said to be moving to Ittihad, the Saudi Pro League influx doesn’t seem to be slowing down.