• Source:JND
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JE Sports Desk: Cristiano Ronaldo was among the first star players who moved to Saudi Pro League after an illustrated career in English Premier League (Manchester United) and Spanish leagues (Real Madrid). Despite speculations around his return to European League, Ronaldo has made it clear that there is no chance of him going back to Europe.

Stating his age as a reason, Ronaldo said,"Returning to Europe, for me, is a closed possibility, I'm already 38 1/2 years old and ... it's not worth it."

Ronaldo also stated that the Saudi Arabian league is better than Major League Soccer (MLS), where his great rival Lionel Messi has chosen to begin the next chapter in his career.

"Europe lost a lot of quality. The only one that is one of the best is the Premier League, the Spanish league lost its level, the Portuguese one is not 'top', the German one also lost a lot of quality. The USA? No, the Saudi championship is much better than the USA," he was quoted as saying by A Bola, a Lisbon sports newspaper.

Ronaldo, who joined Al Nassr in December on a 2-1/2 year contract following his exit from Manchester United, said he had paved the way for other top players to sign with Saudi teams and that more would make the move to the desert kingdom.

Ronaldo believes more players will take the same route in the coming months.

"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." Ronaldo added.

Several high-profile players have followed Ronaldo to the Saudi league, including Ballon d'Or winner Karim Benzema from Real Madrid and N'Golo Kante from Chelsea, who both joined champions Al-Ittihad.

 

Inputs from Reuters