It is no secret that 38-year-old Portugal national team captain and Al-Nassr skipper Cristiano Ronaldo has always been in the the spotlight in the football world. Earlier this year, the five-time Ballon d’Or winner sensationally quit English Premier League giant Manchester United for the second time in his career, and joined Saudi Pro League‘s Al-Nassr after reaching a mutual agreement on the contract termination with the Red Devils. Since then, Ronaldo has been settling down in the oil-rich region and is now eagerly waiting for his first full season with Al-Nassr, having missed out on the Saudi Pro League champion spot to Al-Ittihad by 5 points last year.
Ronaldo: “Saudi League Is Better Than MLS.”
The all-time leading goal scorer in men’s international football’s impressive move away from Europe and arrival at Asia certainly created a new dynamic for football players in terms of their career choices. In this regard, many stars from Europe’s top leagues (English Premier League, Spanish La Liga, German Bundesliga 1, Italian Serie A, French Ligue 1, etc.) have all decided to pursue their career in the Saudi Pro League, including the likes of former Real Madrid captain Karim Benzema, ex-Premier League players such as Kalidou Koulibaly, Édouard Mendy, N’Golo Kanté, Roberto Firmino, Jordan Henderson, Rúben Neves, etc.
Such a phenomena in the football world is a unique one as we rarely see players who are still in their competitive age or at the peak of their career to move away from Europe and join football leagues in another continent of the world, meaning Ronaldo’s decision to join the Saudi Pro League does have its impact to his peers. In a recent interview, the 38-year-old Ronaldo claimed that the Saudi League he belongs to now is much better than the Major League Soccer, the American football league which happens to be the new home of his arch-rival Lionel Messi, after the Argentine completed his move to join David Beckham’s Inter Miami earlier this month.
“The Saudi league is better than MLS. I opened the way to the Saudi league, and now all the players are coming here. 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” was the Al-Nassr captain’s response when he was asked about Messi’s next career move to leave France’s Paris Saint-Germain and arrive at MLS.
Ronaldo: “I Won’t Return to Europe.”
The five-time Ballon d’Or winner also spoke about the chances of him returning to an European club, which he believed is a chapter that has already been closed, meaning we will be unlikely to see Mr. Champions League in action for competitive matches in the continent again. Ronaldo cited the reason behind is that most European leagues have lost their auras and the only relevant one remaining is the Premier League, which is at least a step ahead of every league else in the football world.
“I’m 100 percent sure I won’t return to any European club. 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”, said the former Sporting CP, Manchester United, Real Madrid and Juventus megastar.
After losing to Celta Vigo and Benfica in two friendly matches, Cristiano Ronaldo’s Al-Nassr will play Paris Saint-Germain and Inter Milan for two more pre-season matches, before kickstarting its 2023/2024 Season with a group stage match against Shabab in the Arab Club Champions Cup. As for the first domestic league match for Ronaldo’s team, it will travel to Prince Mohamed bin Fahd Stadium to face Steven Gerrard’s Ettifaq FC next month.
Ronaldo’s Al-Nassr lost 4-1 to Benfica in their preseason friendly in Portugal 😬 pic.twitter.com/ynvTjCyUii
— B/R Football (@brfootball) July 20, 2023
Dear followers of watchworldcup.org, do you echo Ronaldo’s comments on the Saudi Pro League being better than Major League Soccer? Would you spend time watching the Saudi league even if it does not fit with your schedule? Tell us why down in the comment section below!
