Cristiano Ronaldo's historic big-money move to Saudi Arabia has seen him knock one-time rival Lionel Messi off the top list of the highest earning athlete in sports. His bank account might be flying high but it has been a slightly different story on the field though. When the superstar arrived in Riyadh in January to impressive fanfare, Al-Nassr were top of the Saudi Pro League. However, Ronaldo's new club sensationally ended up finishing second to Al-Ittihad, who claimed their first title in 14 years after Ronaldo and company slipped to a stalemate against Al-Ettifaq on Saturday. The draw result left the club five points behind the soon-to-be-announced champions, Al Ittihad with only one game left to play. What went wrong? Did Ronalo's signing play a factor?

Cristiano recently conceded that he had a "bad career run" during his second stint at Manchester United, which ended with him leaving in the most acrimonious of circumstances, prompting criticism from some of his staunchest supporters. However, he argued that it was “part of my growth” and helped him mature. "I'm a better man now," said Ronaldo in an interview with Sports TV+ in March this year. That may be the case, but he is unquestionably not a more composed individual. The Ronaldo we've seen in Saudi Arabia is even more aggressive and petulant than any previous incarnation of 'CR7'. In the span of a month, we witnessed him furiously kick the ball away (while Al-Nassr were up 2-0! ), kick a water bottle, lash out at his own bench, lose his cool over a contentious call, shove a member of an opposing backroom team who wanted a selfie, reject a shirt-swap, and even take down an opponent with a wrestling-style. The most contentious incident involved him making an obscene gesture against Al-Hilal supporters on April 18 at the King Fahd International Stadium, who had been taunting him with Messi chants from before the game.

Ronaldo believes he can still score goals at the very highest level - and why wouldn't he, given everything he's achieved in his career? But fellow United legend Eric Cantona is among those who feel that Ronaldo is struggling to accept that he no longer deserves to be a starter wherever he plays - which is what Erik ten Hag quickly concluded at Old Trafford earlier in the just-concluded season. "There are two types of veterans: those who want to play every game because they still think they’re 25 and those who realize they’re not 25 and are here to help young players, they know they won’t play every game, but they’re aware that they’ll have their moment," the Frenchman said. "There are players who help new players: [Zlatan] Ibrahimovic still does it with Milan, or [technical director] Paolo Maldini when he was a player at Milan. Ronaldo doesn’t realize he’s not 25 years old. He’s already older and doesn’t know that, instead of being unhappy about not having played all the time, he should accept the situation." Added Eric Cantona.