03 January 2023 , 10:09
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Eddie Howe cooled speculation he would want Cristiano Ronaldo at Newcastle even before it was reported that the striker has a clause in his Al-Nassr contract that would allow him to play for the Magpies next season.
Ronaldo had his contract unceremoniously terminated by Manchester United in November while he was on World Cup duty with Portugal following an explosive interview with Piers Morgan in which he claimed he has no respect for Red Devils boss Erik ten Hag.
The five-time Ballon d'Or winner was hoping to put pen to paper with a Champions League club but no one came forward with an offer for Ronaldo, prompting him to move to Saudi Arabia.
Ronaldo is expected to earn £173million per season, which has somewhat sweetened the deal, and could still realise his dream of playing in the Champions League once more, according to Marca.
It has been reported that should Newcastle finish in the top four of the Premier League this season and qualify for Europe's elite competition then Ronaldo could make a temporary switch to St James' Park.
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Newcastle are owned by Saudi Arabia's Public Investment Fund, and this would enable the 37-year-old to, effectively, move freely between the two clubs, should both parties agree to the idea.
Cristiano Ronaldo has joined Al-Nassr after his contract was terminated by Manchester United (Al Nassr Football Club/AFP via G)Magpies boss Howe is yet to comment on this latest update, but he has previously been asked about the possibility of signing Ronaldo and was quick to shut down the suggestion.
Howe said in October: "We're trying to provide long-term growth, we've got a longer-term vision. At the moment, we have quite an ageing squad, so we probably need to invest in more young players. That's probably a big part of our progression, really.
"We need to get the average age down, so it might not be a signing [Ronaldo] that we would necessarily look to make – but not under-estimating the quality of the player."
Eddie Howe isn't overly keen on having Cristiano Ronaldo at Newcastle (Robin Jones/Getty Images)"His career when you look at the numbers – and it's been highlighted again because he scored his 700th goal just how good his record is, how good his career has been – the quality of the player is unquestionable.
"He's an outstanding player. You look at his goal record last year – that was incredible, so for me, the transfer has worked, it's been a success.
"He got massive goals last year and some really late, important goals in the Champions League, so I think he's still an outstanding player and it should never be under-estimated what he's done in the game."