When the football season finally comes to an end in the early summer months, the betting void is filled with speculation as to which players will end up where after the transfer window has closed.
Some educated guesswork can lead to some value odds being accessed, and the popularity of these ‘next club’ markets is such that now many of the leading UK-facing bookmakers – from BetVictor to Betfred and Coral – offer them.
They should do some excellent business in the weeks ahead now that Cristiano Ronaldo has confirmed that his time at Saudi club Al-Nassr is over.
This chapter is over.
The story? Still being written.
Grateful to all. pic.twitter.com/Vuvl5siEB3— Cristiano Ronaldo (@Cristiano) May 26, 2025
Ronaldo may now be the wrong side of 40, but he’s still in excellent shape and continues to bang in the goals for club and country. CR7 will not be stopped in his quest to become the first footballer to score 1,000 senior career goals.
But where will he end up next? Could a reunion with boyhood club Sporting Lisbon be on the cards? A switch to the MLS to take on old rival Lionel Messi? Or how about a stunning return to Manchester United?
Here’s a look at the main runners and riders in the Cristiano Ronaldo Next Club betting market.
Al-Hilal
The odds are a bit all over the place when comparing bookmakers, but the general consensus is that Ronaldo will stay in Saudi Arabia – most likely switching to Al-Hilal.
His young family is settled in the country, with only a few clubs in world football likely to be able to get even close to his wage demands – it’s thought that Ronaldo banked a whopping £168 million a season during his time with Al-Nassr.
Al-Hilal, who won the Saudi Pro League in 2023/24 before finishing second to Al-Ittihad this term, are owned by the Saudi Public Investment Fund – the same consortium that bankrolls Newcastle United and LIV Golf, so the money won’t be an issue.
The club, who already have Ronaldo’s Portugal national team colleagues Ruben Neves and Joao Cancelo on their books, will compete in this summer’s Club World Cup – it has already been hinted that CR7 will play in the competition in a bid to appease FIFA’s desperation to make it relevant.
“Ronaldo might play for one of the teams as well at the Club World Cup,” FIFA president Gianni Infantino has said.
“There are discussions with some clubs, so if any club is interested in hiring Ronaldo for the Club World Cup… who knows, who knows.”
Any MLS Team
Rather than pinning their hopes on an individual Major League Soccer franchise signing Ronaldo, punters can avail themselves of the ‘any MLS club’ selection at around 3/1.
The rules governing player transfers in the MLS are a lot different to the rest of the world, with a salary cap in place to prevent any single team from dominating – Inter Miami had to do a lot of internal restructuring to be able to afford Messi.
Major League Soccer is already into the meat of its 2025 season, so it remains to be seen how any franchise would be able to sign Ronaldo on his astronomical wages without first getting rid of other high earners.
FIFA and Club World Cup enthusiasts would love Ronaldo and Messi to play together at Inter Miami… even if its for that tournament only. Stranger things have happened, of course.
Sporting Lisbon
They say never go back, which is perhaps why Ronaldo’s second spell at Manchester United proved to be such a disaster.
But Sporting Lisbon is CR7’s true spiritual home; the club he joined as a 12-year-old and where he made his breakthrough in senior football.
Ronaldo only played 31 times for Sporting before being snapped up by Sir Alex Ferguson, but he’d no doubt love to bookend his career in his homeland – albeit, he’s have to take a considerable pay cut for the Lisbon outfit to be able to afford him.
Botafogo
The influential Spanish newspaper Marca leaked that Ronaldo had ‘received an important offer from a Brazilian team’ earlier this month.
It has since been revealed that Botafogo is the club that had contacted CR7’s agent with a view to a move – perhaps in time for the Club World Cup, in which they will compete.
Ronaldo speaks Portuguese, naturally, so would presumably adapt well to live in Brazil, but it’s doubtful that Botafogo has the capital or the prestige to truly tempt CR7 to up his family and move around the globe.