Cristiano Ronaldo insists ‘very good’ Saudi league can rival Europe’s best but outlines areas for improvement

Cristiano Ronaldo has made some bold claims for the future of the Saudi Pro League, and outlined how it can get there.

Football’s all-time top scorer is coming to the end of his first season with Al Nassr, the team he surprisingly joined in December last year after terminating his contract with Manchester United.

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It’s a campaign that will end trophyless, though, a rare miss for the five-time Champions League winner, with his side out of the cups and finishing second in the league behind Al Ittihad.

Sitting down with the league to discuss his first six months, Ronaldo candidly said: “My expectation was a little bit different to be honest. 

“I expected to win something this year but that should not always be the way we think, sometimes you need patience, consistency and persistence to achieve the best thing. 

“We improved a lot this last five or six months. I think the team improved so much, even the league, all the teams have improved and my team as well, it takes time but if you believe and you think it’s your goal everything is possible. 

“I expected to win something this year but we didn’t but next year I’m really positive and confident that things will change and we will go in a better way.”

Speaking about the division itself, he continued: “I think the league is very good but we have many, many opportunities to still grow. 

“The league is good, it’s competitive, we have very good teams and very good arab players, the infrastructure I think they need to improve a little bit more. 

“Even the referees, the VAR system should be a little bit quicker, and other small things they need to improve.”

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He added on his and the league’s future: “I’m happy here, I want to continue here, I will continue here and in my opinion, if they continue to do the work they want to do, in my opinion in the next five years the Saudi league can be the fifth in the world.”