Cristiano Ronaldo has become a co-owner of Spanish second-division side Almeria by acquiring a 25% stake in the club.
The 41-year-old Al-Nassr forward has bought his stake in Almeria, who are owned by a Saudi Arabian investment consortium led by Mohammed Al-Khereiji, through his recently formed CR7 Sports Investments company.
While the financial details have not been disclosed, Ronaldo said in a statement he was looking forward to working with the leadership team “to support the next phase of the club’s growth”.
The Portugal international added: “It has been a long-held ambition of mine to contribute to football, beyond the pitch.
“UD Almeria is a Spanish club with strong foundations and clear potential for growth.”
President Al-Khereiji said: “[Ronaldo] is regarded as the greatest to ever play the game, he knows the Spanish leagues very well and he understands the potential of what we are building here both in terms of the team and the academy.”
Last year, Al-Khereiji’s SMC Group acquired Almeria from Turki Al-Sheikh, who is chairman of the General Entertainment Authority (GEA), a Saudi government department.
Ronaldo spent nine successful years in Spain playing for Real Madrid, winning La Liga twice and lifting the Champions League four times before joining Italian side Juventus in 2018.
He has played for Al-Nassr in the Saudi Pro League since 2022 and is the best-paid player in football history with an annual salary of £177m.
Almeria, founded in 1989, are third in Segunda, two points off leaders Real Racing with 15 games to go.
‘The portfolio keeps expanding’ – analysis
By Guillem Balague, BBC Sport Columnist
A little over a decade ago, Cristiano Ronaldo did not want to contemplate life after football.
Those close to him warned he was living on a treadmill, and that when he retired, he might collapse unless he had built something to sustain him. He listened, and business became a way to remain relevant while also giving his family, who had put their own ambitions on hold, projects aligned with their passions.
The first step was symbolic. In 2016, Ronaldo partnered with a hotel group to open a property in Madeira.
Gradually, he began not only investing his wages but enjoying the process, the meetings, the strategy.
He still harboured dreams of making a Hollywood film, but discovered a similar satisfaction in building companies – applying the same discipline he had devoted to his body.
On the pitch, that obsession turned him into the most prolific goalscorer in history after the age of 30. Off it, it was shaping a second career.
According to the 2025 Forbes ranking, Ronaldo generated almost £210m on and off the field. Of that, just over £50m came from his non-football business interests – a very diverse portfolio.
He has increasingly channelled his activity through his investment and lifestyle companies, with holdings in a water brand, a healthy-living app and a recovery products company, as well as underwear, fragrances and footwear.
As well as ownership stakes, he has high-profile partnerships with leading brands, has opened gyms across Portugal and Spain, and launched a range of watches.
And the portfolio keeps expanding.
Ronaldo co-founded a hair-transplant clinic group that now operates in Spain, Portugal, Oman, and Italy. One of its clients was his mother, Dolores Aveiro.
What began with that first hotel in Funchal evolved into a joint venture launched in December 2015 and initially valued at more than £65m. There are now properties in Lisbon, Madrid, New York and Marrakech.
In December 2024, at the Dubai Globe Soccer Awards, Ronaldo said if he ever owned a club, he knew how to fix structural flaws he saw in some of Europe’s giants.
And now he has taken a 25% stake in Almeria, owned by Al Khereiji, which is key to his move to Al-Nassr following his exit from Manchester United.
The treadmill was always going to stop one day, but he now has something to replace it.
The incident comes after Real Madrid forward Vinicius Jr alleged he was racially abused by Benfica’s Gianluca Prestianni during the first leg in Lisbon.
The 25-year-old Brazilian, who scored the only goal of the game, informed the referee he had been racially abused by Prestianni and the game was halted for 10 minutes after he and his Madrid team-mates left the pitch.
Argentine winger Prestianni was subsequently handed a provisional one-match ban and missed the second leg after UEFA rejected Benfica’s appeal against his suspension. He could still face further punishment, pending the result of a full Uefa investigation.
Vinicius, who scored Madrid’s winner in the 80th minute, received support from the home fans as a banner reading “no to racism” in Spanish was displayed in the stands before kick-off.
His team-mate Aurelien Tchouameni also said the win was “for everyone who stands against racism”.
Source: BBC
