Cristiano Ronaldo laments standard of European football and MLS

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Cristiano Ronaldo laments standard of European football and MLS

Cristiano Ronaldo has claimed that European football has 'lost a lot of quality' and insisted that the Saudi Pro League is better than MLS.

Ronaldo left Manchester United by mutual consent in November 2022, and then made the move to Saudi Arabian side Al Nassr after turning down what he said were 'many opportunities in Europe, many clubs in Brazil, in Australia, in USA and even in Portugal.'

Since making the lucrative move to the Middle East, Ronaldo has seen a wave of high-profile players follow suit in recent months. Fellow Ballon d'Or winner and Real Madrid legend Karim Benzema recently joined Al Ittihad, signing a £172m-a-year deal, while Roberto Firmino, N'Golo Kante, Ruben Neves, Edouard Mendy, Kalidou Koulibaly and Marcelo Brozovic are among the others to have signed for Saudi Pro League teams.

Speaking to ESPN about the league, Ronaldo was keen to insist that the league is better than MLS and will soon be better than some notable European divisions too.

"The Saudi league is better than MLS," he argued.

"I opened the way to the Saudi league, and now all the players are coming here. In one year, more and more top players will come to Saudi. In a year the Saudi league will overtake the Turkish league and Dutch league."

While hyping up the standard in Saudi Arabia, Ronaldo also revealed his belief that, bar the Premier League, European football is on the decline.

"I'm 100% sure I won't return to any European club," he stressed. "I'm 38 years old and European football has lost a lot of quality. The only valid one still doing good is the Premier League, they are way ahead of all the other leagues.

"[Serie A] was dead when I joined Juventus and then I re-energised it. There's more interest where Cristiano plays. The same thing has happened here in Saudi Arabia. I feel like a pioneer."