President of Corinthians, Duilio Monteiro Alves, says the Brazilian club made a huge offer to Cristiano Ronaldo this winter, but it was still 20 times smaller than the contract Al Nassr offered the forward.
The 37-year-old has completed his move to Saudi Arabia after cancelling his contract at Manchester United.
The veteran striker had other offers on the table, but Al Nassr have made him the highest-paid footballer in history with a contract worth around £173m-a-year.
Corinthians did try and tempt the Portuguese superstar to Brazil, even coming up with a bid worth what Ronaldo had been paid at Old Trafford, thought to be around £500,000-a-week, but they could not compete with the Saudi side.
‘We made an offer to Cristiano Ronaldo. A salary equal to what he earned at United, two-year deal with the help of sponsors,’ Alves told Bandeirantes’ Donos da Bola.
‘I know he also had proposals from Europe. But the proposal from Saudi Arabia was 20 times higher.
‘I spoke six, seven times with Jorge Mendes and, in the end, we sent a proposal through another person.’
Alves joked that he was relieved when Ronaldo moved to Al Nassr, saving his club an awful lot of cash.
‘I made the proposal and even hoped not to accept it (laughs). Just kidding, we had many partners already warned. I think we have to try,’ he said.
On his presentation at Al Nassr, Ronaldo claimed he had offers from around the globe before plumping for Saudi Arabia.
‘I had many opportunities in Europe. Many clubs in Brazil, Australia, in the US and even Portugal,’ he said.
‘For me this is a good chance with my knowledge and experience to grow very important clubs.’
MORE : Cristiano Ronaldo skips Al-Nassr win and spotted leaving game at half-time
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