Cristiano Ronaldo's next club: Lionel Messi link-up in MLS, third stint at Man Utd & the seven options for CR7 if he leaves Al-Nassr

Ronaldo scored 27 goals in 54 appearances during his second stint with Manchester United after arriving back at Old Trafford in 2021, only to then manufacture a way out after being stuck on the bench by the "disrespectful" Dutchman Ten Hag.

Some four years on, the Red Devils could bring Ronaldo back for a third run, and the man himself claims to know exactly what needs to be done to make the club great again.

"I'm sad because that’s one of the most important clubs in the world, and a club that I still have in my heart,” he said during an interview with Piers Morgan Uncensored in November. "You have to follow with the intelligent people, smart people, to create a base for the future as Manchester United have [done] so many years ago. Nicky Butt, Gary [Neville], Roy Keane, [David] Beckham, they became big players, but they had youth.

"So Manchester United right now, they don't have a structure.  I hope that changes in the future, present-future, because the potential of the club, it's amazing. It's one of the most important clubs of the century.”

Michael Carrick's recent appointment as interim manager shows that United perhaps took notice of Ronaldo's words, and re-signing the evergreen Portugal international could help bring the glory times back to the Theatre of Dreams. Quite how invaluable of a learning curve Ronaldo's return would provide £74m ($111m) signing Benjamin Sesko if the Slovenian were to spend the next year or two playing second fiddle to the five-time Ballon d'Or winner is worth bearing in mind, however.

"I'm happy at Real Madrid and I want to stay and finish my career there if possible," Ronaldo said after winning his fifth Ballon d'Or in December 2017. The Sporting CP academy graduate ended up leaving for Juventus the following summer, but, to this day, he retains a unique emotional link to Los Blancos.

"My period at Real Madrid is the happiest for me in terms of football," he said in January 2025, and Ronaldo could still end his glittering career at the Bernabeu, where he would undoubtedly be welcomed back with open arms amid a turbulent period that is seeing Alvaro Arbeloa trying to pick up the pieces after Xabi Alonso's ill-fated seven-month reign.

Madrid's current leading light, Kylian Mbappe, has repeatedly called Ronaldo his 'idol' and has regularly picked the Portuguese's brain since arriving in the Spanish capital. Having the opportunity to work with him in close quarters and share the spotlight might, then, be a dream scenario for the Frenchman - or perhaps not.

It has also been suggested that Madrid's biggest weakness these days is a lack of tracking back from their forward players, especially Mbappe. Quite how signing Ronaldo would solve that issue is a question that is probably best left unanswered.

The PIF also happens to be Newcastle's majority owner, which means the Magpies are ideally positioned to bring Ronaldo back to Europe. According to Marca, they could have done exactly that in 2023, as Ronaldo's first contract at Al-Nassr included a clause that gave him the option to join Newcastle if they qualified for the Champions League.

A move never transpired then, but do Newcastle have far greater need for a player of Ronaldo's stature now, as they languish in the Premier League's bottom half? Sure, they would have to sideline £124m ($168m) duo Nick Woltemade and Yoanne Wissa, but both pale in comparison to the age-defying Ronaldo...

Ronaldo would be unquestionably the most high-profile signing in Newcastle's history. His presence guarantees more eyes and raised expectations, and failure to meet them would set the Saudi project on Tyneside back even further. A risk worth taking, then?...

When former Arsenal midfielder Anders Limpar was asked about the prospect of Ronaldo moving to MLS last year, he gave a response that made a lot of sense.

"Zlatan Ibrahimovic has been there, Lionel Messi is there now and can you imagine if Cristiano Ronaldo joined him? Why not? It would be the icing on the cake - and imagine they played together, it would be simply unbelievable," said Limpar. "I think there is only one person who can make that happen and that is David Beckham. If you ask me, Ronaldo should leave Saudi Arabia and make MLS bigger than ever."

Indeed, Beckham already pulled off one of the greatest coups ever when luring Messi to Miami in 2023, and it wouldn't be a surprise if he's been on the phone with Ronaldo's entourage after hearing of his disillusionment in Saudi.

Ronaldo would also be eager to stamp his mark on another league, after - as he might claim - revolutionising the game in Saudi. He has suggested that MLS is "obviously" a worse competition than the Pro League, but as Limpar observed, he'd instantly make it "bigger", and potentially better. 

Messi has won two successive MVP awards and lifted Inter Miami to their first MLS Cup crown in 2025, so what could possibly go wrong if Ronaldo's single-minded mentality was added to the mix?...

"It would be incredible to see him finish his career at Sporting CP. It would be the best, a beautiful story for everyone," Ronaldo's former team-mate Ricardo Sa Pinto said in a recent interview with Radio Marca. "When you love football like Cristiano, you know there are stories that only happen once. It would be a beautiful story, a very beautiful one. The Sporting fans deserve it. And so does he."

Ronaldo's mother, Dolores Aveiro, has also long been pushing for the forward to retrace his steps. "Ronaldo has to come back here," she said in 2021. "If it were my choice, he would already be here. He likes to watch Sporting games. I've already told him: 'Son, before I die, I want to see you return to Sporting'. He says: 'Let's see.'"

Sporting are perhaps the least attractive European option for Ronaldo based on prestige, but they're top for pure romance. He spent six years on the Portuguese club's books before joining United in 2003, and though he represents the greatest triumph of their academy system, he only played 31 senior matches, scoring five goals, and didn't win a trophy at the Jose Alvalade Stadium.

There is, then, unfinished business for Ronaldo in Lisbon. Would he be an upgrade on Sporting's current No.9, Luis Suarez, who currently sits second in the Liga Portugal scoring charts on 18 goals from 19 appearances in 2025-26? Well, Suarez is a strong finisher, link-man and presser with bags of pace, but Ronaldo is Ronaldo, and his aura alone could strike fear into Sporting's opponents.

Pinto, then, is right: It would be a "beautiful story", even if it resulted in no tangible success of any kind.

Ronaldo, however, is very unlikely to be handed the same eye-watering £488,000-per-day(!) salary he earns at Al-Nassr if he departs the Middle East. If financial power is one of his main motivators at this late stage in his career, he'd be best off staying in Saudi - though that doesn't mean he has to remain tied to Al-Nassr.

The Riyadh-based side have spent a total of €414m on transfers since Ronaldo's arrival, eclipsing Al Ittihad (€380m) and Al Ahli (€386m), but they are still well behind Al-Hilal's outlay of €650m. Benzema is just the latest in a long-line of marquee additions at Al-Hilal, who won the 2023-24 Pro League title without losing a single game, with big money also spent on the likes of Neymar, Ruben Neves, Malcom, Joao Cancelo, Kalidou Koulibaly and Darwin Nunez.

If you can't beat them, why not join them? According to CBS Sports, PIF pushed for Al-Hilal to sign Ronaldo before the expanded Club World Cup in 2025, so it's not unrealistic to think they could target him again, even after the capture of Benzema.

The masterplan could be to reunite Ronaldo and Benzema, who enjoyed unprecedented success together at Real Madrid. At Madrid, Benzema put in the hard yards in the build-up play while Ronaldo waited to pounce and claim all the praise, so why not reintroduce that dynamic to a star-laden squad?!

The Portugal international can kill two birds with one stone at Al-Hilal by ending his six-year trophy drought (having won no major honours since the 2021 Coppa Italia), and re-establishing himself as the unrivalled face of Saudi football. Al-Nassr supporters would feel blindsided, but that's not Ronaldo's problem.

Retirement is on the table, too, though Ronaldo rejected the possibility when speaking to Canal 11 in October.

"People, especially my family, say, 'It's time for you to stop. You've done everything. Why do you want to score a thousand goals?' But I don't think so," he said. "I think I'm still producing good things, I'm helping my club and the national team, and why not keep going? I'm sure that when I finish, I'll be fulfilled, because I gave it my all. I know I don't have many more years, but the few I have, I'll try to enjoy to the fullest."

Ronaldo is only 39 goals short of that magic, four-figure career total, and it would feel like a tragedy if he doesn't make it - at least for the man himself.

An elusive World Cup is still on his agenda, too, as Portugal head into the 2026 event in North America as one of the favourites. Some believe that Ronaldo is standing in the way of his country's progress, given he's only scored once in his last 10 major tournament appearances and often rebukes his team-mates for neglecting to look for him straight away, but Roberto Martinez has emphatically dismissed such a notion.

"He's a player who, for us, is a finisher. He's the all-time leading scorer. So, having a player who now has 25 goals in the last 30 games (across qualifiers, friendlies and the Nations League) for the national team is a gift," the Portugal boss said last month. "It's about the present; we're not talking about what he did 10 years ago. So, for me, his commitment is very important. He's the only player in the world with more than 220 international caps. So, with Cristiano Ronaldo's experience, having the commitment he has... He's an example. And he's a player who inspires the locker room."

Can you imagine the Portugal national team without Ronaldo? They'd probably pass teams to death, with Vitinha, Bruno Fernandes and Joao Neves getting all the headlines. But who needs fluid football when you can go direct to a man who will always back himself go for glory, even when there appear to be better options?...

Martinez is spot on; Ronaldo remains a gift for the sport, if only for the publicity he continues to provide. Whether him continuing to play is beneficial to anyone aside from Ronaldo is, however, at least up for debate.