AL NASSR manager Rudi Garcia has revealed he would be “delighted” to coach Cristiano Ronaldo.
The Portuguese star, 37, saw his Manchester United contract terminated last month following an explosive interview with Piers Morgan.
He headed to his fifth and final World Cup as a free agent but failed in his quest to lift the trophy.
Portugal were knocked out in the quarter-finals, with Ronaldo scoring just one goal.
And he ended up being dropped for their second round victory over Switzerland and last-eight defeat to Morocco.
Now he is training with Real Madrid in a bid to keep his fitness up ahead of a January move.
Two clubs rumoured to have tabled bids for the five-time Ballon d’Or winner are Saudi sides Al Nassr and Al-Hilal.
Al Nassr have reportedly offered Ronaldo a £173-million-a-year deal to join them in the Middle East.
And Al Nassr head coach Rudi Garcia, 58, who was linked with the Man Utd job when Ralf Rangnick eventually took interim charge, has added further speculation to the possibility of Ronaldo joining them.
Speaking to AS, he said: “I think that any coach would be delighted to train a great star like Cristiano and already in November 2021 I was very close to going to United.
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“They chose Ralf Rangnick, but I met twice with John Murtough and Darren Fletcher [United’s director of football and technical director].
“I came very close to coaching this club and was very motivated to go, who wouldn’t be motivated to coach United? Any coach.
“United’s simple interest has allowed me to be sure of my ambitions in the future.
“I have always thought that the great players are the easiest to manage because they are very intelligent. I verified this with Francesco Totti at Roma.”
Manager Garcia has taken charge of some high-profile European clubs including Lille, Roma, Marseille and Lyon.
He only joined Al Nassr in June, leading the side to six wins from their opening eight league matches.
They currently sit second in the table, three points behind Al-Shabab but two ahead of fellow Ronaldo rivals Al-Hilal.
