Cristiano Ronaldo has confirmed he will play in the Saudi Pro League for a second season. The 37-year-old Portuguese superstar clarified his future intentions in the midst of numerous rumours that his former Real Madrid teammate Karim Benzema is scheduled to sign with a rival club in Saudi Arabia the following week.
In what was a shock and surprise to the fans, Cristiano Ronaldo moved to Saudi with Al Nassr earlier this year as the club made him the best-paid footballer of all-time. His move to Al Nassr sparked extensive curiosity about which other superstar footballers could follow him to middle-east. Lionel Messi, Roberto Firmino, Ilkay Gundogan, and Luka Modric are just a few of the stars who have been linked with moves to the Saudi Pro League.
‘I will continue here’ – Cristiano Ronaldo committed to Al Nassr contract
Cristiano Ronaldo has announced that he would remain in the Saudi Pro League for at least another season and has welcomed the potential arrival of other big-name recruits, including former teammate Karim Benzema, who has been linked with a mega-money move to join him in the Saudi Pro League.
Since the former Manchester United hero’s own future was clouded in uncertainty, it wasn’t necessarily guaranteed that Benzema would reunite with his former teammate who currently plays for the Riyadh-based Al-Nassr. However, following rumours of a return to Europe, Ronaldo has now rubbished them. He told SPL:
“The league is very good. But I think we have many, many opportunities to still grow. The league is competitive. We have very good teams, very good Arab players, but they need to improve the infrastructure a little bit more. Even the referees, the VAR system, should be a little quicker. I think other small things they need to improve.
“But I am happy here, I want to continue here, I will continue here. And in my opinion if they continue to do the work that they want to do here, for the next five years, I think the Saudi league can be a top five league in the world.”
Cristiano Ronaldo lost out on the Saudi title with Al-Nassr last week, having joined them midway through the season in December. The Portugal captain scored 14 goals in 16 games, but it wasn’t enough to deny Al-Ittihad their third title, though Ronaldo aims to prevent them from winning a fourth next season. He added:
“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. 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.
“It takes time sometimes, but if you believe and you think it is your goal, I think everything is possible. I expected to win something this year, but we didn’t. But next year I am really positive and confident that things will change, and we go in a better way.”