Cristiano Ronaldo has advised Nico Williams to join Real Madrid, according to Defensa Central. The Spanish forward has been in red-hot form for Athletic Bilbao in recent years and registered 11 goals and seven assists from 45 games this season.
Williams was heavily linked with an exit from San Mames in the summer of 2024, but ended up staying. His future with the Basque club remains uncertain this summer as well, and he has previously been linked with Los Blancos and Barcelona.
The 22-year-old has also enjoyed a good spell with his national team. Williams helped Spain win the Euro 2024 and was part of the team that lost to Portugal in the UEFA Nations League final last week.
Following the game, Cristiano Ronaldo was seen deep in conversation with Williams. It is now being rumoured that he advised the player to move to the Santiago Bernabeu. The Portuguese superstar reportedly said:
Interestingly, Williams may not be guaranteed regular game time if he joins Los Blancos this summer. Even if Rodrygo Goes leaves the LaLiga giants, they still have Vinicius Junior, who operates in Williams’ favoured left forward position.
Meanwhile, Williams is under contract with Athletic Bilbao until 2027 and reportedly has a €60m release clause in his deal. Real Madrid have already invested in Franco Mastantuono this summer, and may not be too keen to splash the cash on the Spaniard.
Cristiano Ronaldo arrived at Real Madrid in the summer of 2009 from Manchester United. The LaLiga giants reportedly paid a then-world-record fee of €96m to secure his signature.
The Portuguese superstar would go on to become one of the club’s greatest ever players. The five-time Ballon d’Or winner scored 451 goals from 438 games during his nine-year stay at the Santiago Bernabeu and is Los Blancos’ record goalscorer.
Cristiano Ronaldo won 16 trophies with Real Madrid before leaving in the summer of 2018. Juventus reportedly paid €112m for his services, and the Portuguese went on to spend three seasons at Turin.
He briefly returned to Manchester United for a second stint at Old Trafford, but it didn’t live up to expectations. The 40-year-old left the Red Devils in December 2022 to move to Al-Nassr and currently plays for the Saudi club.
Deepungsu holds a PG degree in Microbiology and an MBA degree in Total Quality Management. He has an extensive two-decade long writing experience, which includes a decade of sports blogging. His writing prowess has even led his work getting cited on the legendary Franz Beckenbauer’s Wikipedia page.
Inspired by Diego Maradona, Deepungsu played as an attacking midfielder for his local club at subdivision level in his initial years and scored an important goal or two. However, his all-time favorite footballer is Lionel Messi, and evidently, he feels Argentina’s glory in 2022 is his favorite FIFA World Cup moment for fulfilling his long-standing dream. He is also an ardent East Bengal fan.
Deepungsu has been a Manchester United supporter since the year 2000. Unsurprisingly, his favorite manager is Sir Alex Ferguson and the Scotsman helped him get through some of the toughest days of his life. Like the fiery Scot, Deepungsu also leaves no stone unturned when it comes to accuracy in articles and only relies on credible sources.
Despite believing in Kylian Mbappe and Erling Haaland to create an iconic rivalry, Deepungsu reckons no one can match the longevity of Messi and Ronaldo. He spends his leisure time writing about life on his blog, reading books, and playing the guitar.
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