Cristiano Ronaldo's seven-word response to Club World Cup transfer offer revealed

River Plate boss Marcelo Gallardo has revealed he reached out to Cristiano Ronaldo about potentially joining the Argentine side for the Club World Cup. Gallardo previously worked with Ronaldo when he was in charge of Al-Ittihad, leading a Riyadh All-Stars team in a friendly against Paris Saint-Germain in 2023.

And the 49-year-old has now revealed that he attempted to bring Ronaldo to River Plate for the tournament, but the former Manchester United and Real Madrid star ultimately decided to focus on preparing for next season.

"In mid-March, informally, through a mutual friend, I told him, 'Hey, I have a Club World Cup coming up, for a player like you, who defined an era… don't you have any intention of playing in it?'" Gallardo told ESPN.

"Not only did he feel recognised, but he evaluated it, thought about it, but then responded, 'I have to prepare for next season'."

FIFA president Gianni Infantino had claimed that Ronaldo could feature at the newly revamped tournament despite the fact that Al-Nassr had failed to qualify. However, the player later stated that he had rejected approaches from several teams to play at the Club World Cup.

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"There have been a lot of conversations, but there are certain things that I see as making sense and not making sense," Ronaldo said ahead of Portugal's win over Spain on penalties in the Nations League final.

"You can't go to everything, you have to think short, medium and long term. I've pretty much made up my mind not to go to the Club World Cup, but I've had plenty of offers."

Brazilian club Fluminense also reached out to Ronaldo ahead of the tournament, with club president Mario Bittencourt revealing that he had approached Ronaldo's agent Jorge Mendes. "I have a relationship with Jorge," Bittencourt said.

"Not a very close one but, if I call him, he answers.‌ I asked him if there was any chance of Cristiano playing in the Club World Cup. He was very clear in telling me that he's not interested in playing in Brazil for now."

Al-Hilal chief Esteve Calzada also recently addressed rumours that they were interested in signing Ronaldo for the tournament, telling BBC Sport : "We normally don't comment on players' situations, particularly because our name is always put out there, when a player or an agent wants to negotiate a better deal with his club, or is trying to move out.

"It's been a very weird transfer window, it's a very short period of time. You don't want to take a decision thinking about this tournament that then you have to carry on with for the next two or three years.

"As much as I respect Ronaldo as a huge player, as we all recognise he is, it's certainly completely counter-intuitive that you bring the biggest player of your biggest opponent to play with you. Even more when it's only for three to four weeks."

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