In a stunning accusation, Odion Ighalo has claimed that Cristiano Ronaldo is motivated more by money than passion during his career in Saudi Arabia.
After parting ways with Manchester United, Ronaldo departed Europe for the Middle East, securing a lucrative contract with Al Nassr.
At 38 years old, Ronaldo is said to be the highest-earning player in the Saudi Pro League, with reports suggesting he receives an astonishing £3.6 million per week.
A wrath of players have since moved to Saudi Arabia, with the likes of Karim Benzema, N’Golo Kante and Ruben Neves securing big-money deals.
Ighalo, who played for Al Shabab and Al Hilal, has delivered a rant aimed at players moving to Saudi Arabia, insisting it’s purely for monetary reasons instead of a passion for the game in a damning assessment.
“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,” he told OmaSportsTV.
“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.”
The former Man United player, who enjoyed a loan spell at Old Trafford in the 2019/20 season, then took aim at Ronaldo, claiming he’s not playing out of passion.
“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,” he added. “Did he do that out of passion? It’s for money, bro.”
Jordan Henderson is the latest player to move to Saudi Arabia, having teamed up with Steven Gerrard’s Al Ettifaq.
Just like all the players moving to the budding league, he received a monstrous deal to leave Liverpool.
Does Ighalo have a point? Let us know what you think.