Cristiano Ronaldo to reunite with Xabi Alonso? Fabrizio Romano provides fresh update on Bayer Leverkusen transfer links
Football transfer expert Fabrizio Romano has provided a fresh update on Cristiano Ronaldo's future amid links with Xabi Alonso's Bayer Leverkusen. The Italian journalist claimed that there was no such move in the making while reiterating that the 39-year-old is happy at Al Nassr.
Speculations of Cristiano Ronaldo potentially moving to Bayer Leverkusen have gathered pace over the last few days. The rumors claimed that the Portuguese icon was keen to reunite with his former Real Madrid teammate Xabi Alonso at the Bundesliga club.
However, Fabrizio Romano has squashed such stories. Shortly after Ronaldo scored his 35th Saudi Pro League goal of the season and became the first player in history to become the top scorer in four different leagues, the Italian journalist hailed him for the accomplishment and seized the opportunity to address the speculation.
“Congratulations to Cristiano Ronaldo for making history with his 35 goals in the Saudi Pro League – he’s the first player to become top scorer in four different leagues, having already done it in La Liga, Serie A and the Premier League," Romano wrote in his latest Daily Briefing Newsletter.
"We’ve also had some interesting rumours about Ronaldo and Bayer Leverkusen because of his strong relationship with Xabi Alonso. They are good friends, but no – Leverkusen are not working on this deal, no one is working on signing Ronaldo because he is very happy at Al Nassr and is not planning to change,” he added.
It's still unclear what the future holds for Cristiano Ronaldo. The attacker still has a contract with Al Nassr until the summer of 2025 and by then, he'll be 40 years old.
Cristiano Ronaldo and Xabi Alonso's Bayer Leverkusen make history this season
Ronaldo scored twice as Al Nassr defeated Al Ittihad in their final league game of the season on Monday (May 27). By doing so, he became the Saudi Pro League's top scorer for the season with 35 strikes, as well as the first player to win the Golden Boot in four different top-flight leagues. He also broke Abderazzak Hamdallah's record of scoring the most (34) goals in a single Saudi Pro League season.
Bayer Leverkusen, meanwhile, also enjoyed a historic outing this term. They ended Bayern Munich's Bundesliga stranglehold by winning the league with an incredible unbeaten season. They also won the DFB Pokal.
Xabi Alonso's men had the chance to make it a triplet of trophies when they reached the Europa League final but a shocking 3-0 loss to Atalanta crashed the party. Regardless, they still ended up as Europe's biggest success story of the season.