Cristiano Ronaldo has claimed the Saudi Pro League is better than MLS just a day after Lionel Messi was scouted by American side Inter Miami.

Ronaldo, meanwhile, was one of the first big names to move to Saudi Arabia, joining Al-Nassr following his departure from Manchester United last season in a whopping £175million-a-year deal.

Many other players have now followed him to the Middle Eastern country, including names such as Karim Benzema, N’Golo Kante and even Steven Gerrard.

While Ronaldo recently confirmed he would be staying in Saudi Arabia next season, the five-time Ballon d’Or winner has also been linked with a return to Europe and his former club Real Madrid.

But following a 5-0 pre-season friendly thrashing by Celta Vigo on Monday, Ronaldo has issued a candid assessment of his future, claiming he will not be heading to the US or back to Europe, while also taking credit about the influx of players going to the Middle East.

“The Saudi league is better than MLS,” he said, according to Fabrizio Romano.

“I am 100 percent sure that I will not return to any European club. I paved the way to the Saudi league and now all the players are coming here. I will not return to European football, the door is completely closed. I am 38 years old, even European football has lost a lot of quality. The only league that for me has a lot of quality and is at a higher level than all the others is the Premier League.

The Spanish league does not have that great quality. The Portuguese league is a good league, but it is not the best league. I think the German league has also lost a lot. I’m sure I won’t play in Europe again. I want to play in Saudi Arabia.”

His side Al-Nassr were narrowly beaten to the Saudi Pro League title last season by league rivals Al-Ittihad, but were banned from signing new players by FIFA last week after they failed to pay £390,000 for former Leicester player, Ahmed Musa.

Despite this, the club signed Marcelo Brozovic before the ban came into effect at the start of July and have also been heavily linked with a move for Hakim Ziyech.

“Within a year, more and more top players will come to Saudi,” continued the Portuguese superstar. “In one year, the Saudi league will surpass the Turkish league and the Dutch league. The players who arrived are not what the president of the European Union said. Jota and Neves are young players.”

When asked if he would move to MLS, Ronaldo added: “I think the Saudi league is much better than the United States. My team is Al-Nassr.

100 percent. It’s a fact,” said Ronaldo. “It would take a year, but six months. I was wrong for six months. But I knew it would happen because in the Italian league, when I went there, it was also dead and then it was renewed.

Where Cristiano goes, it arouses more interest and I knew it would be like that. I am sure that next season more stars will go there, to Saudi Arabia,” Ronaldo concluded.