Cristiano Ronaldo insists the ‘Saudi league is better than MLS’ after Lionel Messi’s move to Inter Miami as he takes credit for influx of players and says ‘European football has lost all of its quality’ – except the Premier League

Cristiano Ronaldo has claimed that the ‘Saudi Pro League is better than the MLS’ a day after Lionel Messi was unveiled by Inter Miami. 

The Argentine was unveiled by his new side on Sunday after it was announced earlier this year that he would be joining the Florida-based club in a £45million-per-year deal.

Ronaldo, meanwhile, was one of the first big names to move to play in Saudi Arabia, joining Al-Nassr after his exit from Manchester United last season, that saw him join the Saudi Pro League side in a whopping £175million-per-year deal. 

Many other players have now followed him out to the Middle Eastern state, including names such as Karim Benzema, N’Golo Kante and Ruben Neves. 

While Ronaldo recently confirmed that he would be staying in Saudi Arabia next season, Mail Sport had understood that the five-time Ballon d’Or winner had also been linked with a return back to Europe, and to his former side Real Madrid.

But following a 5-0 pre-season friendly defeat to Celta Vigo on Monday, Ronaldo has issued a frank and honest assessment of his future, claiming he will not be moving to the US or back to Europe, while also taking credit for the influx of players heading to the Middle East.   

‘Saudi league is better than MLS,’ he said, according to Fabrizio Romano.  

‘I’m 100% sure I won’t return to any European club. I opened the way to the Saudi league and now all the players are coming here’.

‘I won’t return to European football, the door is completely closed,’ he added.

‘I’m 38 years old, also European football has lost lot of quality. The only league that for me has a lot of quality and is at a higher level than all the others is the Premier League.

‘The Spanish league does not have that great quality. The Portuguese league is a good league, but it is not a top, top league. The German league I think has also lost a lot. I’m sure I won’t play in Europe again. I want to play in Saudi Arabia.

‘In one year, more & more top players will come to Saudi. In a year the Saudi league will overtake the Turkish league and Dutch league.

‘Players who arrived aren’t like what the president of the European Union said. Jota and Neves are young players.’

When asked whether he would move to the MLS, he added: ‘I think the Saudi league is much better than the United States. My team is Al-Nassr.’

‘100 per cent. It’s a fact,’ Ronaldo said. ‘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].’

More to follow…