Cristiano Ronaldo announced on Thursday that he had acquired a 25% stake in Saudi-owned Spanish second division club Almería.
“This strategic investment in UD Almería reflects Ronaldo’s long-term commitment to professional football ownership,” read a statement from his new sports holding company, CR7 Sports Investments, which gave no financial details of the deal.
“It has been a long-time ambition of mine to contribute to football,” the statement quoted Ronaldo as saying. “I look forward to working alongside the leadership team to support the club’s next phase of growth.”
Almería, who were last in the Spanish top flight in 2024, are third in the Segunda, one point from the automatic promotion places. The club are owned by Saudi group SMC.
Almería’s president, Mohamed Al Khereiji, suggested the player would be particularly involved in the club’s youth programme. “He is considered the best on the pitch,” Al Khereiji said. “He knows the Spanish leagues very well and understands the potential of what we are building.”
Ronaldo, who has played in the Saudi Pro League for Al-Nassr since 2023 and who also owns a stake in the club, became the first footballer included in Bloomberg’s “Billionaire Index” last October. He recently returned to the Al-Nassr first team after a spat over the way the Public Investment Fund (PIF), the national sovereign wealth fund which controls four clubs in the league, handled the winter transfer window. He has scored four times in the last three games.
Ronaldo is set to take part in his sixth World Cup next summer although he has suggested that, aged 41, it could be his last.
