Report: Cristiano Ronaldo rejects €275 million offer to leave Manchester United for Saudi Arabia

Superstar Cristiano Ronaldo may want to leave Manchester United this summer to ideally join a club that will play in this season's UEFA Champions League competition, but the 37-year-old apparently isn't yet ready to stop featuring in Europe's best domestic leagues. 

According to Adriana Garcia of ESPN, Ronaldo is prepared to reject an offer to join an unnamed Saudi Arabian club that bid €30 million to sign him from United and that also is willing to pay him €275 million in wages for the next two seasons. Garcia adds such a deal would make CR7 the world's highest-paid footballer. 

Garcia notes that Ronaldo "wants to play Champions League football next season, and wants to compete for major trophies in a competitive league at this stage of his career." 

This update comes on the same day that multiple stories emerged claiming that Premier League side Chelsea have ruled out a move for Ronaldo. Paris Saint-Germain have reportedly also turned down a chance to sign him, and Bayern Munich CEO Oliver Kahn previously said such a transfer "wouldn't be a fit with our philosophy." However, ESPN reports Bayern and Spanish club Atletico Madrid "are still in the race to sign Ronaldo" as of Thursday afternoon. 

New United manager Erik ten Hag insisted earlier this week that Ronaldo "is not for sale" and "is in our plans" for the 2022-23 season. Ronaldo has remained away from the club this summer due to what's been called a legitimate "family issue," and it's unclear if he would embrace a "strike" and sit meaningful games out next month in an attempt to force an exit from Old Trafford. 

In total, Ronaldo scored 24 goals across all competitions last season.