Al-Nassr forward Cristiano Ronaldo has claimed that Saudi League is better than Major League Soccer. Ronaldo’s former rival Lionel Messi has joined Inter Miami CF in the Major League Soccer.
Ronaldo joined Al-Nassr in the previous season after his fallout with Manchester United. On the other hand, Lionel Messi was also offered a lucrative offer by SPL’s side Al-Hilal, but the Argentine skipper decided to go to the States.
“The Saudi league is better than MLS,” the Portugal star said when asked about moving to the U.S. like his former rival in Spain Lionel Messi, who was unveiled as an Inter Miami CF player on Sunday.
Al-Nassr substituted Ronaldo at half-time with the score tied at 0-0 against La Liga side Celta Vigo in his native Portugal. However, the Saudi Pro League team was hammered by 5-0.
After Ronaldo came to Saudi Pro League in the previous season, top players like Karim Benzema, Marcelo Brozovic, N’Golo Kante, and Roberto Firmino have followed suit. Ronaldo feels he has opened the gates for the top players to enter SPL and also added the league will overtake the Turkish and Dutch leagues.
“In one year, more and more top players will come to Saudi. In a year the Saudi league will overtake the Turkish league and Dutch league,” Ronaldo added.
The veteran also admitted he is not going to move back to any European club. Ronaldo achieved great success while playing for Manchester United, Real Madrid and Juventus.
“I’m 100 percent sure I won’t return to any European club,” Ronaldo said. “I’m 38 years old. And European football has lost a lot of quality. The only valid one and still doing good is the Premier League. They’re way ahead of all the other leagues.”
Al Nassr will next play against Portugal’s domestic champions Benfica and Ronaldo is optimistic of having more game time.
“The plan was for me to play 45 minutes today,” Ronaldo said. “Against Benfica, I might play 60 or 70 minutes. It is better to fine-tune the machine little by little to reach the best form.”
