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Manchester City full-back Kyle Walker recently credited Cristiano Ronaldo for making the Saudi Pro League a viable option for football stars around the world.
Cristiano Ronaldo joined SPL club Al-Nassr on December 31, 2022. Since the Portuguese superstar's arrival, players like Sadio Mane, Neymar, Karim Benzema, Riyad Mahrez, and more have moved to the league.
Walker's former Manchester City teammate Aymeric Laporte is also in the SPL. The Englishman hailed Ronaldo for popularizing the league among talented players in top leagues around Europe. He told Rio Ferdinand on the FIVE podcast (via Caughtoffside):
"I’ll never say never. The money that they’re paying and everything is obviously a massive factor in why they’re going out there. (Cristiano) Ronaldo opened the pathway for everyone to go there."
Walker further affirmed his stance, but admitted that the Premier League was still his preferred choice. He said:
“If they keep attracting the player they’re attracting the league will get better so why wouldn’t you want to go? But for me the Premier League is the best league in the world so I want to compete in this league for as long as possible and as high as possible.”
The 33-year-old is still enjoying plenty of playing time in City's starting XI. Walker's deal runs out at the end of the 2025-26 season, and a lucrative offer from the Middle East could be hard for him to turn down at this stage of his career.
Dejan Kulusevski opens up on sharing the pitch with Cristiano Ronaldo
Current Tottenham Hotspur attacker Dejan Kulusevski was teammates with Cristiano Ronaldo at Juventus. The duo played 40 times together for Old Lady.
The Swede has now shared his experience of sharing the changing room with Ronaldo and has hailed the Portuguese legend's ethics. He said (via GOATTWorld on X):
"Cristiano, what a man. After training, everyone is on their phones, but he doesn't. You can see how hard he works, how much he wants it, even though he doesn't have anything left to prove."
Kulusevski also revealed that he asked Ronaldo for a favor once, urging the five-time Ballon d'Or winner to sign a shirt as a memento for his mother.
