Cristiano Ronaldo said there is no chance he will play club football in Europe again and that the Saudi Arabian league is better than Major League Soccer, where his great rival Lionel Messi has decided to start the next part of his career.
Ronaldo signed a 2-and-a-half-year deal with Al Nassr in December after leaving Manchester United. He said that he had made it possible for other top players to sign with Saudi teams and that more would move to the desert kingdom.
The 38-year-old leader of Portugal said that most European teams were getting worse after Al Nassr lost 5-0 to Celta Vigo in a pre-season match on Monday.
“I’m sure as anything that I won’t go back to any European club. ESPN said that he said, “I’m 38 years old.”
“The level of sports in Europe has gone down a lot. The (English) Premier League is the only one that is still going strong. They are way ahead of everyone else.”
Messi, who has played against Ronaldo for a long time, was also linked with a move to Saudi Arabia before the Argentine World Cup winner signed a contract with MLS team Inter Miami until 2025.
“The Saudi league is better than the MLS,” Ronaldo said.
“Now, everyone is coming here… In a year, there will be more top players in Saudi Arabia.”
Several famous players have followed Ronaldo to the Saudi league. Karim Benzema, who won the Ballon d’Or, and N’Golo Kante, who played for Chelsea, both joined the champs Al-Ittihad.