Just one day after his long-time adversary Lionel Messi signed a contract to play for Inter Miami in the United States, Cristiano Ronaldo asserted that the Saudi Arabian soccer league is superior to Major League Soccer (MLS).
After his contract with Paris Saint-Germain expired, Messi reportedly received a lucrative offer to join a Saudi club, but the World Cup winner decided to travel to the United States instead.
Ronaldo claimed after Al Nassr’s 5-0 loss to Celta Vigo in a preseason friendly that “the Saudi league is better than MLS,” according to Reuters.
“Now all the players are coming here … In one year, more top players will come to Saudi Arabia.”
After leaving Manchester United, Ronaldo signed a two-and-a-half year deal with Al Nassr that the media has projected to be worth more than 200 million euros ($220.16 million).
The 38-year-old stated last month that he would be “very welcome” to have any new Saudi club acquisitions join him in the league.
Since then, several players have moved to the Saudi Pro League (SPL), including Roberto Firmino, Kalidou Koulibaly, Edouard Mendy, and Karim Benzema.
Additionally, Ronaldo declared that he would never play soccer again in Europe since the quality of the leagues is deteriorating.
“I’m 100% sure I won’t return to any European club. I’m 38-years-old,” he said, according to 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.”
Following his transfer, Ronaldo scored 14 goals in 16 games, but it was not enough to help his team win the SPL title; Al Nassr finished second to Al Ittihad.
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