Ronaldo: I would still score goals in the Premier League
Cristiano Ronaldo scored 25 Saudi Pro League goals last season, and he believes he could still replicate that form in the Premier League.
Cristiano Ronaldo insists he would score as many goals if he played in the Premier League as he does in the Saudi Pro League.
Ronaldo has scored 82 goals in 84 Pro League games for Al-Nassr since joining in January 2023, 28 more than the next-most prolific player in that time (Abderrazzaq Hamed-Allah with 54).
The Portugal great, who turned 40 in February, scored 24 goals for Manchester United in his last full season in one of Europe's top five leagues, in 2021-22.
That was actually Ronaldo's fewest goals in a season in one of Europe's top five leagues since 2006-07, when he netted 23 times during his first spell with United.
Ronaldo's move to Saudi Arabia kickstarted an influx of big-name players to the Gulf nation, and he has repeatedly pushed back on claims the division cannot rival European football.
He has praised the strength of the Pro League again in an interview with Piers Morgan, saying he would back himself to be among the goals if he was still playing in England.
"Year by year, I score more," Ronaldo said. "Even in a bad year [in 2024-25], I scored 25 goals.
"If I played in the Premier League, now in a top team, I would score the same! If I had a good team, at 40 years old, I would score the same."
According to Opta's power rankings system, the Saudi Pro League is the 29th-strongest division in world football.
But Ronaldo believes it is a stronger competition than Portugal's Primeira Liga – ranked ninth in the world by Opta – and can rival France's Ligue 1, which is ranked fifth.
Addressing the Pro League's critics, he added: "I don't need to speak because they can say whatever they want, but the numbers, they don't lie.
"They say things about the Saudi league, but they have never been here, they never play here. They don't know what [it is like] to run in 40 degrees.
"They don't know. I still continue, and I repeat, the Saudi League is much, much better than the Portuguese League, of course. The French league is only PSG. The Premier League is good, of course, it is the number one.
"I've played everywhere. Everywhere. For me, it was easier to score in Spain than to score in Saudi."
