Cristiano Ronaldo confirms he will STAY in Saudi Arabia next season despite reports linking him with a shock return to Real Madrid... as he insists the Saudi league can become a 'top five league in the world' 

Cristiano Ronaldo has confirmed he is staying in Saudi Arabia, ending speculation he wants to quit the Middle East for a return to Europe.

The Portugal legend left Manchester United to join Al Nassr in January but his move has been shrouded in uncertainty in recent weeks following reports suggesting he could return to former club Real Madrid.

But in an interview in Saudi, the superstar insists he will stay in the Middle East.

‘I am happy here, I want to continue here, I will continue here,’ he said.

'And in my opinion if they continue to do the work that they want to do here, for the next five years, I think the Saudi league can be a top five league in the world.

‘I will be part of your world, your culture, I will be here, I hope I make the people enjoy through my games, my performance, and to win things, but again, thank you for welcoming me, and I will try to give my best during the time that I will be here.’

Cristiano Ronaldo has confirmed he will stay in Saudi Arabia next season, ending speculation linking him with a return to European football

The 38-year-old has also spoken about some of the differences in training habits he has experienced since moving to Saudi.

He said: ‘One example is in Europe we train more in the morning, but here we train in the afternoon, or evening and in Ramadan we train at 10 at night - so this is so strange, but as I tell you these situations are part of an experience, memories.

‘I like to live these moments because you learn with these things. It is difficult, but it is nothing I have not seen before. My experience so far is that Saudi fans they really love football and like to live the life and it is good and I am so happy until now.’

Ronaldo has scored 14 goals in 16 games since joining Al Nassr helping the club to second place in the Saudi Pro League behind Al Ittihad, who are managed by the Nuno Espirito Santo.

On finishing runners-up, Ronaldo said: ‘Well, my expectation was a little bit different, to be honest I expected to win something this year, but it is not always the way we think or the way we want, sometimes we need passion, consistency, and persistence to achieve the best things.

‘So, I still believe that next year we will improve a lot, let us say in the last five or six months, the team has improved a lot, even the league, all the teams improved.

‘It takes time sometimes, but if you believe and you think it is your goal, I think everything is possible. I expected to win something this year, but we didn’t, but next year I am really positive and confident that things will change, and we go in a better way. So, let us believe that and work on that.’