RIYADH: Cristiano Ronaldo has reportedly received a hefty offer from a Brazilian club ahead of the Club World Cup.

The Manchester United legend has a mega 164 million pound a year contract with Saudi Pro League club Al-Nassr, which expires this summer.

Ronaldo, 40, is now in his third season in Saudi Arabia but has yet to win a league trophy in the Middle Eastern country.

On the other hand, Al-Ittihad – lined up by Karim Benzema, N’Golo Kante and Fabinho – were superior and lifted the league trophy last week.

Ronaldo’s contract extension was also suspended after Al-Nassr failed to qualify for next season’s Asian Champions League.

Now the five-time Ballon d’Or winner has a final chance to finish his career with the glory of a trophy.

According to Spanish media reports, Ronaldo was contacted by a Brazilian club that will compete in the Club World Cup this summer.

Although it was not stated which clubs, only Palmeiras, Flamengo, Fluminense and Botafogo from Brazil will compete next month.

If the club in question is Palmeiras, he will find Ronaldo with his old enemy, Lionel Messi, who represents Inter Miami.

Palmeiras is in the same group as Inter Miami, Porto and Egyptian club Al Ahly.

The Club World Cup is no stranger to Ronaldo, who has won the trophy four times throughout his career.

The first time he won it was with Man United in 2008 when the English Premier League club beat LDU Quito 1-0 thanks to Wayne Rooney’s goal.

The Portuguese striker added three more tournament trophies to his collection with Real Madrid, scoring a hat-trick in the 2016 final to beat Kashima Antlers 4-2.

The 2025 Club World Cup will take place in the United States from June 15 to July 13.

The English Premier League is represented by Chelsea and Manchester City, while Real Madrid and Bayern Munich are among the main European teams in the tournament.

MANCHESTER: Manchester City manager Pep Guardiola has called on the club’s supporters to consider the match against Aston Villa at the Etihad Stadium, early Wednesday morning, as the final match in the mission to book a spot in next season’s Champions League.

City are currently fourth in the Premier League with 58 points after 33 matches – one point ahead of Villa who are in seventh place.

The top five teams will qualify for the main European competition next season.

“It’s a final and we need our fans. I’m sure they want to see City in the Champions League next season,” Guardiola told a news conference.

“Hopefully they will support us from the first minute. Don’t wait. Sometimes we are slow to warm up, sometimes the performance doesn’t work out.

“But right now, we really need them, we really need them to cheer, give us energy and make the stadium buzz. This is like a final for us.”

Guardiola also warned that Aston Villa are not easy opponents, not to mention the team beat City 2-1 in the last meeting in December.

In fact, he admired the performance of the Midlands club who nearly eliminated Paris Saint-Germain (PSG) in the Champions League quarter-finals recently.

MANCHESTER: Cameroon goalkeeper Andre Onana will return to Manchester United’s goal in the Europa League quarter-final second leg against Lyon despite making two errors in the first leg, Red Devils manager Ruben Amorim said today.

Lyon had previously managed to tie the game 2-2 thanks to two mistakes by Onana, which led to him being sidelined in the Premier League match against Newcastle United last weekend, which saw Altay Bayindir substituted and United lose 1-4.

The incident came a day after Lyon midfielder Nemanja Matic described Onana as “among the worst goalkeepers” in the club’s history.

However, Amorim still defended his men and placed his trust in Onana.

“Onana will play tomorrow,” said Amorim in a press conference ahead of the match at Old Trafford, early Friday morning.

In another development, young Dutch striker Joshua Zirkzee has been confirmed to be out of action this season after suffering a hamstring injury during a match at St James’ Park.

“Joshua has to forget the rest of this season. Our focus now is to prepare him for next season,” said Amorim.

“It’s a huge blow because he’s showing improvement in all aspects of his game. It’s not easy for any player to have that kind of momentum stopped.”

NEWCASTLE, England: Manchester United coach Ruben Amorim insisted he understood the criticism aimed at him and his team after another Premier League (EPL) defeat at Newcastle United early this morning, but claimed losing a game was worse than any personal curse.

Amorim’s team lost for the 14th time in the league this season – matching the number of defeats they suffered throughout the 2023-24 campaign.

United showed some impressive moves at St James’ Park but two goals from Harvey Barnes, capitalising on a number of defensive errors, left Amorim’s side stranded in 14th place in the table with six games remaining.

“I understand (the criticism) but I don’t care,” said Amorim.

“There’s nothing worse than losing a game. They can say whatever they want. I don’t want to defend myself or anything like that. If you look at where we are in the table, it says it all.

“When we were penalised for the second goal at the start of the second half, we started to get frustrated and we need to act better in moments like this, we need to deal with it.

“We need to improve a lot of things and our position is a reflection of our performance this season.”

On the verge of the worst EPL points tally in history, Amorim made five changes to the starting line-up, with the Europa League quarter-final second leg against Olympique Lyonnais taking centre stage early this Friday morning.

The change that stole the spotlight was when first-choice goalkeeper Andre Onana was left out of the squad, with Altay Bayindir making his EPL debut.

The Turkiye international struggled, however, with his mistake gifting Newcastle their fourth goal.

“Even if we put in a different starting line-up, we don’t know the outcome,” said Amorim. “But we have to make a choice, we played three days ago.

“We will analyse the game, but we need to focus on the next one, we can’t change this one, the next one is our big strength, so let’s focus on the next one this Thursday to perform better and win the match.”

SEVILLE, Spain: When Antony was loaned from Manchester United to Real Betis, the Spanish club were confident they were signing a player who would change the club’s fortunes and not a sad figure struggling in the Premier League.

Antony arrived at United for almost £81 million in 2022, but when he left the club last January he lost the sting that made him entertaining to watch at Ajax Amsterdam.

Once hailed for guiding the Dutch club to the Eredivisie title, the Brazilian winger failed to live up to his price tag and was loaned to Betis after picking up more yellow cards than goals scored in two-and-a-half seasons at Old Trafford.

However, Betis have plans for him and despite being mocked for their David Lynch-inspired video introducing their new player, the Seville-based club are now reaping the rewards.

Since his arrival, Antony has scored four goals and provided four assists in 12 appearances in all competitions as Betis battle to win the UEFA Conference League and qualify for next season’s Champions League.

“I’m very happy… I found myself, I need to find myself, I need to be happy, I need my family to be happy too. Every day that passes, I see it’s the best decision I’ve made,” Antony told DAZN.

“I enjoy this city, the clubs, every day. Seville reminds me of a lot of things from Brazil – the sun, the food, everything. The people here are also very friendly. I’m very happy and it’s important for us as Brazilians.”

The 25-year-old has rediscovered his confidence with the ball that he lost during his time at United.

Betis were 10th when he arrived but now – following six consecutive wins including a 2-1 win at local rivals Sevilla – Manuel Pellegrini’s side are sixth, six points off the top four.

Betis have not played in the Champions League since the 2005-06 season and are prepared to keep Antony at the club beyond the current campaign.

The club has no option to buy Antony but if it were up to them, he would make the Estadio Benito Villamarin his new home.

“I’m grateful to United for everything… I’ve had some tough times at United, but also some really good times,” he said.

“I’m also getting ready to be here today, having fun. Yes, today my mind is here, I’m very happy.”