Cristiano Ronaldo irked by 'Lionel Messi taunts'

Cristiano Ronaldo was the first well-known figure to sign with the Saudi Professional League in 2022 after Manchester United abruptly released the great Portuguese player.

Early in 2023, Ronaldo travelled to the Middle East as a free agent, according to Goal.

Despite being 39 years old, he has scored 42 goals this season and doesn't seem to be slowing down. The five-time Ballon d'Or winner has, however, frequently been the target of "Messi" cries from opposing fans. At one point, he was also banned for responding angrily to his critics.

Despite CR7's evident dissatisfaction, Ronaldo's contract is set to expire in the summer of 2025, and Saudi football analyst Ben Jacobs expects it to be honoured.

Jacobs has told talkSPORT: “I think he’ll do another season. I think Ronaldo still feels that he’s the one capitalising this. So there’s a personal aspect that feeds into maybe his ego that he started all of this. By the same token he’s frustrated. Al Nassr are second, they're out of the Saudi Super Cup, he got sent off late in a game against Al Hilal. And every time he does anything wrong, opposition fans are chanting the name ‘Leo Messi’.”

“And that juxtaposition of Messi winning the World cup, Ronaldo being in Saudi Arabia, I think is really irking him. I expect him to do one more season, but quite clearly there's aspects out there now that are irritating Ronaldo. Particularly, and oddly at this stage of his career, when people are chanting the name Lionel Messi at him.” he added.