Cristiano Ronaldo 'waited for a call from Real Madrid that never came' before signing his hugely-lucrative deal with Saudi Arabian team Al Nassr.

The 37-year-old Portugal forward, who'd been a free agent since mutually terminating his contract at Manchester United last month, has agreed a £175million-a-year deal.

Ronaldo trained at Real's Valdebebas base to keep his fitness levels up after Portugal's exit to Morocco in the quarter-finals of the World Cup.

Cristiano Ronaldo has joined Al-Nassr in a deal making him the highest-paid player in the world

And, according to Spanish newspaper Marca, Ronaldo was hoping Real would want to sign him for a second time.

Ronaldo is a Bernabeu legend, having scored 450 goals in 438 matches for Real over nine seasons to help them to four Champions League triumphs.

But there was no interest in re-signing him from Real, leading him to complete his move to Al Nassr.

Ultimately, Ronaldo realised his age, salary demands and the manner of his exit from Old Trafford would preclude him from signing for an elite Champions League club.

Having returned to Madrid and not Manchester following the World Cup, Ronaldo reportedly trained alone at Real's Valdebebas facility, having asked permission from president Florentino Perez.

Perez reportedly told the Portuguese star: 'Of course, this is your home.'

The 37-year-old hit out at the Red Devils and manager Erik ten Hag in a tell-all interview with Piers Morgan last month and his contract was subsequently terminated by mutual consent.

Ronaldo has previously stated that he wanted to continue playing in the Champions League for as long as possible, but Marca has reported that he always knew this was highly unlikely after leaving United, despite the player holding a glimmer of hope that Real Madrid could look to re-sign him.

From the moment he departed Old Trafford Saudi Arabia looked to be Ronaldo's next destination, and he has now signed a £175m-a-year deal with Al Nassr after holding a meeting with the club's president, Musalli Al-Muammar, with official confirmation of the move coming on Friday night.

The meeting occurred in Madrid in recent days, where Ronaldo has been living and training to keep fit ahead of returning to club football.

Yet the Portuguese star has reportedly known for some time about the prospect of joining Al-Nassr as an agreement to join the club was put in place during the World Cup.

While Ronaldo insisted that he was only focused on the World Cup and trying to win the tournament with Portugal, Marca has stated that the forward was fully aware of negotiations taking place in the background between his team and Al Nassr.

Marca also reported that Ronaldo's long-standing agent Jorge Mendes was not involved in the talks with Al Nassr, with his personal manager Ricky Regufe completing the negotiations instead.