MASON Greenwood fears he has blown any chance of making a fresh start in Saudi Arabia after describing the career of former Manchester United teammate Cristiano Ronaldo as “deɑd”.

Greenwood, 21, used the term while discussing the superstar’s form while he was playing at Real Madrid.

Mason Greenwood described former Man Utd teammate Cristiano Ronaldo’s career as ‘deɑd’

Greenwood now fears he has blown any chance of rebuilding his career in Saudi Arabia

When Ronaldo learned about the comment he was furious — and urged bosses not to consider making a move for his former teammate

Later, he relocated to Juventus, and in September 2021, he returned to Old Trafford.

The remark was made in March, three months after Ronaldo, 38, signed a two-year, £350 million contract with the Saudi team Al-Nassr.

When Ronaldo found out, he was incensed and pleaded with the league’s executives not to pursue a move for his former teammate.

A source said: “Ronaldo isn’t known for his thick skin.

“He was really annoyed at what Greenwood said — but he has good reason to be when you consider what Ronaldo has achieved in his career and where Greenwood finds himself.

“Greenwood had his nose put out of joint when Ronaldo signed for United because he ended up playing a lot less than he had hoped for, so their relationship was difficult.”

Ronaldo was the first superstar to move to the Saudi league and he has a lot of influence.

The source added: “Ronaldo is treated as royalty in Saudi and what he says goes.

“He would have enough influence there to kibosh clubs from signing Greenwood if he wanted to.”

The Sun understands Saudi league bosses are also wary of making a move for Greenwood given the country already suffers from bad PR.

A senior figure within the Saudi Premier League said it would be “very surprising” if attempts were made to sign Greenwood given the huge push for women’s football in the past year, which saw an 86 per cent rise in registered female players in the country.

A source said: “If Greenwood is too toxιc for football in Saudi Arabia, you do wonder where on earth he could rebuild his career.”

Turkish and Italian teams had previously expressed interest in Greenwood, but yesterday, Serie A team Roma, led by former Manchester United manager Jose Mourinho, distanced itself from the youngster.

Former Liverpool and England midfielder Steven Gerrard, now manager at Saudi club Al-Ettifaq, also dismissed claims he was interested as “fake news”.