Al Hilal chief executive Esteve Calzada says a move to sign Cristiano Ronaldo on a short-term deal so he could play in the Club World Cup was never a realistic proposition.
Al Hilal were linked with the Portugal superstar, who will soon be out of contract at Al Nassr and was reportedly desperate to play in the summer tournament in the United States.
— Cristiano Ronaldo (@Cristiano) June 15, 2025
Signing Ronaldo was “counter-intuitive”
But Calzada admitted signing a player from Al Hilal’s Pro League rivals – even though they are both owned by the Saudi Arabian Public Investment Fund – was always unlikely.
He told the BBC: “We normally don’t comment on players’ situations, particularly because our name is always put out there, when a player or an agent wants to negotiate a better deal with his club, or is trying to move out.
“It’s been a very weird transfer window, it’s a very short period of time.
“You don’t want to take a decision thinking about this tournament that then you have to carry on with for the next two or three years.
“As much as I respect Ronaldo as a huge player, as we all recognise he is, it’s certainly completely counter-intuitive that you bring the biggest player of your biggest opponent to play with you.
“Even more when it’s only for three to four weeks.”
Al Hilal expected to be busy in second transfer window
The first transfer window, introduced for clubs participating in the Club World Cup, is now closed and the second one open.
And Al Hilal are expected to be busy having been linked with the likes of Victor Osimhen and Darwin Nunez.
Calzada added: “We’ve been trying to see if we can reinforce the team. But some players were with a mindset of ‘holidays already’, some players were sometimes just asking for too much money, and we’re aware that our team is extremely competitive.
“We’ll go into the traditional transfer window after the tournament still with the biggest ambitions to see if we can reinforce the team even more.”
Al Hilal begin their Club World Cup campaign against Real Madrid on June 18, before facing RB Salzburg four days later and concluding their group stage against Pachuca on June 27.
