Ronaldo moved to Saudi league for money not passion — Ighalo

Saudi-based Nigerian striker Odion Ighalo believes that money is the motivating factor behind the influx of top stars from Europe into the Saudi Pro League.

After spells with Lyn, Udinese, Granada and Watford, Ighalo left mainstream Europe to China in 2018.

In the Chinese Super League, Ighalo featured for Changchun Yatai and Shanghai Shenhua before where he was earning around €200,000 per week before returning to Manchester United on a six-month loan deal in 2020.

After his loan spell with the Red Devils, the Super Eagles striker moved to the Saudi Pro League in 2021 joining Al-Shabab where he started earning €170,000 per week.

Ronaldo moved to the Saudi Pro League in 2023 after falling out with Manchester United manager Erik Ten Hag.

The five-time Ballon d'Or winner joined Al Nassr on a three-year deal, where he will earn €210.704 million in total as per Dailypost.ng

Ronaldo's move to Saudi opened the floodgate for several top stars from Europe to join the Saudi Professional League.

Ighalo believes this is due to the lucrative offers in the Saudi league.

“See people that are going to Saudi Arabia, big players. Is Ronaldo still playing for passion? He has made more than 100 times what I have in my life, but he still went to Saudi. You want to tell me that is passion? No, it’s for money.

“It’s only when we Africans say it they will say we like money. But these people don’t care, some of them want to be highest paid and all that,” Ighalo old Oma TV.