The Athletic FC ⚽ is The Athletic’s daily football (or soccer, if you prefer) newsletter. Sign up to receive it directly to your inbox.Hello! The king’s ransom paid off. Cristiano Ronaldo has cracked the Saudi Pro League.Coming up:🏆 Ronaldo’s first Saudi title
One point worth making about the SPL is its ability to attract elite footballers who are somewhere near their prime. Whereas Major League Soccer continues to operate as something of a retirement home for Thomas Muller, James Rodriguez and their ilk, more peak-age players are drawn to Saudi (in no small part because of the cash on offer, let’s be real). It isn’t a case of a 41-year-old Ronaldo flying the flag alone.Which isn’t to say the SPL is necessarily much cop either, but it has seeped into the sport’s global consciousness. To put that another way, if Ronaldo wasn’t there, you wouldn’t be reading about Al Nassr’s title in TAFC this morning. And that, in the end, was the whole point of the enterprise.📇 With neat timing, a one-of-a-kind Ronaldo trading card has just sold for $1.35m (£1m). The previous record for a CR7 collectible was $312,000. Safe to say he isn’t going out of fashion.News round-up
Apple TV is to broadcast this weekend’s MLS meeting between LA Galaxy and Houston Dynamo… using solely an iPhone. It’s the first time this has been done in any major setting, and I’m intrigued to see what the experience is like.
