Cristiano Ronaldo representatives ‘had multiple meetings with MLS side Sporting Kansas City’ before he joined Al-Nassr in Saudi Arabia on $212m-a-year deal
Sporting Kansas City became a finalist for Cristiano Ronaldo’s signature after multiple Major League Soccer teams sounded out a move for him, according to reports.
Ronaldo signed with Saudi Arabian side Al-Nassr for two years, on a contract that will pay him $212million a year.
Before he struck the agreement with the side, Ronaldo’s representatives had multiple meetings with Sporting KC whose financial package, including both wages and commercial elements, was considered to be ‘very close’ according to ESPN’s Taylor Twellman.
Kansas City were among the final teams in with a chance of signing Ronaldo due to the side holding his MLS ‘discovery rights,’ according to reports, which is a rule in the league which gives clubs a path to acquire a player over rivals.
Some fans took to commenting on the report to voice their displeasure with MLS’s discovery rule while pointing out that it was possibly what cost the league the chance to sign one of the greatest soccer players to take the field in America.
‘No disrespect to Sporting KC, one of the best run franchises in MLS, but I wonder how things would have played had it been a team in NY, LA, or Miami that held his discovery rights,’ said one angered fan.
Another one would go on to Tweet: ‘Can we talk for a second how discovery rights on a player like Ronaldo are a joke? SKC was the only MLS team at the table because of that lol.’
