Cristiano Ronaldo doesn’t stay far away from the news very often whether it be for any reason. Last year his infamous interview with Piers Morgan brought curtains to his Manchester United career, after his row with Erik Ten Hag. He then decided to leave European football and made a shock transfer to Saudi League side Al-Nassr for a contract worth $200 million dollars per year.
The 5 time Ballon D’Or winner claimed after a friendly that Saudi League is better than MLS, once again sparking debate on social media regarding his ever-long obsession with Leo Messi.
Saudi League is BETTER than MLS
After Lionel Messi was unveiled in an official presentation in Miami to the home fans, Ronaldo has gone on to claim that the Saudi League is better than MLS taking a dig at his great rival who joined Inter Miami FC.
‘I think the Saudi league is much better than the United States. My team is Al-Nassr. 100% It’s a fact, It was going to take a year, but it was six months. I was wrong for six months. But I knew this was going to happen because in the Italian league when I went there, it was also dead and then rejuvenated. Where Cristiano goes, it generates greater interest and I knew it was going to be like that. I’m sure that next season more stars will go there [to Saudi Arabia].’ Ronaldo said
Return to European Football?
He also went on to claim that he won’t be making a return to European football as Europe has lost quality except the Premier League.
“I’m 100% sure I won’t return to any European club. I’m 38 years old,” he told ESPN. “European football has lost a lot of quality. The only valid one and still doing good is the (English) Premier League. They’re way ahead of all the other leagues.”
Also read: Napoli’s First Serie A Title in 33 Years: How Did Spalletti’s Side Reclaim the Scudetto?
Ronaldo also didn’t shy away from claiming all the credits after a lot of top European players have come down to join the Saudi League after being offered huge lucrative deals with big salaries.
Now all the players are coming here. In one year, more top players will come to Saudi Arabia.
“I opened the way to the Saudi league, and now all the players are coming here.”
Since Ronaldo’s arrival, the Saudi league has also attracted other international stars such as France’s Karim Benzema and N’Golo Kante, Brazil’s Roberto Firmino, Senegal’s Edouard Mendy, Serbia’s Sergej Milinkovic-Savic and Croatia’s Marcelo Brozovic.
Al-Nassr Transfer Ban
There won’t be any more signings for Al-Nassr now as they have been banned from registering new players by FIFA. Their ongoing dispute with Leicester over the non-payment of 18 million Euros for the transfer of Ahmed Musa in 2018 led to this sanction.
The Public Investment Fund – Al Nassr’s owners – have insisted they will promptly pay Leicester their owed money to lift the ban.
Season 2023/24
In their first friendly game of the season, Cristiano Ronaldo played for 45 minutes as the La Liga team Celta Vigo thrashed his side by 5-0 in a match where their new signing Marcelo Brozovic also made his debut for the Saudi side.
Saudi Professional League season 2023/24 is set to begin on 11th August 2023.
