Cristiano Ronaldo makes bold prediction after Newcastle United owners strike deal

Cristiano Ronaldo has been talking up the Saudi Arabia Pro League after Newcastle United owners PIF struck a headline-making deal.

It was announced earlier this week that the Magpies’ owners would take a 75% stake in four Saudi clubs, including Al Ahli, Al Nassr, Al Hilal and Al Ittihad. The news comes months after Ronaldo signed for Al Nassr, and the high-profile arrivals haven’t ended there. N’Golo Kante is set to join Ronaldo from Chelsea on a deal worth around £86million per year, and Karim Benzema is also Saudi Arabia-bound.

Benzema’s contract with Real Madrid expired this summer, and the Frenchman has joined Al Ittihad on a deal reportedly worth £86millon per season.

The Saudi clubs have missed out on the signing of Lionel Messi, who has decided to reject huge offers to join Inter Miami in the US, but they are clearly getting somewhere when it comes to landing big-name players, much like we saw with the Chinese Superleague in the not so distant past.

And Ronaldo believes he was the catalyst to players considering a move, telling reporters: “Let’s bug people a bit. I knew that me going to Saudi Arabia would open a box and I wasn’t wrong.

“I’m sure in a couple of years or three, this league is going to be one of the most important leagues in the world. We can see that already. Karim left [Real Madrid] already and I am 1000% sure that many more players will.”

The next step for the Saudi league will be to sign high-profile players in their prime, given they are only managing to sign players well over 30 from Europe at this point. The Saudi league can only really claim to fulfil Ronaldo’s prediction of becoming ‘one of the most important leagues’ if players are considering joining the league well before they draw up their retirement plans.