Cristiano Ronaldo finished his first season at the Saudi Arabian club Al-Nassr. The player joined the Saudi club after his underwhelming time at the English club Manchester United.
Ronaldo score 14 goals in 16 appearances for Al-Nassr, however, was unable to help the club to win the league this season. Rumors of him wanting to leave the club arose after the player was seen being dissatisfied after a match.
The 38-year-old has however confirmed that he wants to continue playing for Al-Nassr next season. However, the player has expressed his frustrations regarding the Saudi League.
Cristiano Ronaldo revealed, “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 a little bit more the infrastructure.
“Even the referees, the VAR system, should be a little quicker. I think other small things they need to improve.”
The player also shared his disappointment in not being able to win a trophy in his first season at the Saudi Arabian club. He said, “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.
Cristiano Ronaldo announces he’s not leaving Al Nassr despite Newcastle links: “I am happy here — I want to continue here and I will continue here”. 🚨🟡🇸🇦
“Life goes very well, the league is good. The big players are all welcome. If this happens, the league will improve”. pic.twitter.com/xfuGYGiERb
— Fabrizio Romano (@FabrizioRomano) June 1, 2023
“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.”
Ronaldo is hoping to continue seeing the improvement in the league. The player hopes with the arrival of big-name players, the league will continue to improve.
Cristiano Ronaldo expects Saudi League to be in the top 5 leagues in years to come
The player has high hopes for the league. He expects Saudi Pro League to become one of the top 5 leagues in the world.
Ronaldo shared, “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.”
OFFICIAL!! Cristiano Ronaldo has confirmed he is staying at Al Nassr next Season pic.twitter.com/n69TMAnyg3
— Omubo Whyte (@ombo7) June 2, 2023
The player, however, shared how it had been a challenge for him to adjust to the new country. He shared, “One example is in Europe we train more in the morning, but here we train in the afternoon, or evening and in Ramadan we train at 10 at night — so this is so strange.”
Although he treats all these things as an experience in life rather than a problem. The player is happy with his experience in the country so far and would wish to stay here for another season.