Cristiano Ronaldo told he's 'smoking way too much hookah' after 'ludicrous' Saudi Pro League claims as ex

Cristiano Ronaldo has been told he's “smoking too much hookah” after his “ludicrous” claims regarding Lionel Messi’s new MLS home and Saudi football.

WHAT HAPPENED? The Portuguese superstar has boldly stated – while plying his club trade at Al-Nassr – that the Saudi Pro League can be considered superior to the top tier of American soccer and has tipped it to overtake the Dutch Eredivisie and Turkish Super Lig in the next 12 months. Ronaldo said when asked if he could follow Inter Miami new boy Messi to the United States: “The USA? No, the Saudi championship is much better than the USA.” Said comments have generated lively debate, with former MLS star Mike Lahoud – who represented the likes of Chivas USA, the Philadelphia Union and FC Cincinnati in his playing days – biting back at five-time Ballon d’Or winner Ronaldo.

WHAT THEY SAID: Lahoud has told CBS Sports: “Ronaldo has been smoking way too much hookah. This is a ludicrous statement in terms of in one year for the Saudi Pro League to be better than those leagues [Eredivisie & Super Lig]. This comes on the heels of Lionel Messi's unveiling. Just when Messi talks about bringing the world's game to the doorstep of North America at the 2026 World Cup, this is what we've seen from Cristiano Ronaldo. This is all about Messi and all about relevancy. And what he said about Serie A, when he left Juventus - left the team in shambles.”

THE BIGGER PICTURE: Ronaldo claimed that Serie A “was dead” when he joined Juventus in 2018, with his presence helping to rekindle interest in the Italian top-flight before he made a sensational return to Manchester United in the summer of 2021.

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WHAT NEXT? Ronaldo has been joined in the Middle East by a number of household names – such as Karim Benzema, Roberto Firmino, Marcelo Brozovic, Ruben Neves and Kalidou Koulibaly – but Messi’s arrival in Miami has raised the profile of MLS and the expectation is that he will help to grow the game in America even further.