Cristiano Ronaldo won’t come close to achieving his target of scoring 1,000 career goals, according to former Arsenal and Chelsea star Emmanuel Petit.
In a recent interview with former Manchester United team-mate Rio Ferdinand, Ronaldo opened up about his dream of scoring 1,000 career goals before he retires. “I want to reach 1,000 goals,” the 39-year-old said. “If I don’t have injuries, this is for me the most important. I want that.”
Ronaldo currently sits on 907 goals, although he squandered the chance to make it 908 from the penalty spot in Al-Nassr’s King’s Cup defeat to Al-Taawoun on Tuesday. He managed 50 goals for his club in all competitions last season and so could only need two more seasons to get to four figures, but Petit doesn’t believe the Portuguese star can keep up that rate of scoring as he approaches his forties.
“Cristiano Ronaldo won’t reach 1000 goals, even if he plays in Saudi Arabia until 42 years old,” Petit told Jeffbet. “It will be extremely hard to average 30-40 goals a season at that age, and he will only decline with age. I don’t expect him to get near that figure in all honesty.”
Ronaldo doesn’t turn 40 until February and it’s hard to imagine he’ll hang up his boots once the 1,000 mark is within reach. He’ll try to get closer to his target when Al-Nassr take on Neymar’s Al-Hilal on Friday evening.
