Cristiano Ronaldo: I think the Saudi league can be one of the five best in the world

Cristiano Ronaldo has said Saudi Arabia’s domestic league could become one of the best in the world in the next five years, and will improve if more of the game’s leading lights join him in moving there. 

The Portuguese striker has just finished his first season with Al Nassr, scoring 14 goals in 16 appearances, but was unable to help his side stop Al Ittihad winning the Saudi Pro League (SPL) title. 

Ronaldo signed a 2½-year contract estimated to be worth more than €200 million (US$220.16 million) with the club, making his debut in January, and said he had expected to be adding another trophy to his already impressive collection. 

“To be honest, I expected to win something this year, but it is not always the way we think or the way we want – sometimes we need passion, consistency and persistence to achieve the best things,” he said in an SPL interview.

“So, I still believe that next year we will improve a lot. Let us say in the last five or six months, the team has improved a lot, even the league, all the teams improved.” 

The league could improve even more over the summer, with Lionel Messi and Karim Benzema linked to Al Hilal and Al Ittihad respectively, in moves that would be worth hundreds of millions of dollars.

And while Ronaldo, who played for Manchester United, Real Madrid and Juventus, described the SPL as “very good”, he said there were “many opportunities to still grow”.