Al-Nassr's Ronaldo says he'd maintain scoring rate at top EPL club

Cristiano Ronaldo backs himself to maintain the scoring rate he's producing for Al-Nassr if he were to move back to the Premier League.

"If I play in (the) Premier League now, in a top team, I will score the same," the 40-year-old claimed in the second section of his interview with Piers Morgan.

"I don't need to speak because they can say whatever they want," he said, referring to criticism of his goals meaning less in the lower-quality Saudi Pro League. "But the numbers, they don't lie ... They've never been here. They never play here."

He added: "The Saudi league is much, much better than the Portuguese league, of course. French league is only PSG. Premier League is good - of course, it's the No. 1. And they should count the goals to be the top scorer (for) the Golden (Boot). Why (do) they not count (the) Saudi league?"

The Golden Boot is rewarded to the player who accumulates the most scoring points in a single top-tier season in Europe. Kylian Mbappe won the award for last season after his 31 La Liga goals for Real Madrid earned 62 points. Viktor Gyokeres scored more league goals for Sporting CP, but Primeira Liga tallies accumulate fewer points than those scored in La Liga due to the perceived difficulty of each competition.

World Cup not a dream

Morgan's interview with Ronaldo was released in two parts Tuesday and Thursday. The Portuguese forward was drawn onto the subject of his old Ballon d'Or rival Lionel Messi when Morgan mentioned Wayne Rooney recently commenting that Messi is better than Ronaldo.

"I'm not mad with that," Ronaldo insisted about the opinion of his former Manchester United teammate.

"I don't agree," Ronaldo appeared to add during a trailer for the interview. "I don't want to be humble."

Messi and Ronaldo held a duopoly over the Ballon d'Or from 2008-17, with each player winning five awards. Messi won the award again in 2019, 2021, and 2023 and therefore boasts the record for the most Ballon d'Ors with eight.

Ronaldo joined Al-Nassr of the Saudi Pro League from Manchester United at the end of 2022. Barcelona icon Messi moved to Major League Soccer's Inter Miami in July 2023 after two seasons with Paris Saint-Germain.

Ronaldo claimed that winning his first World Cup with Portugal in 2026 isn't his "dream." He said success or failure at the tournament wouldn't define him as a player due to its small sample size. "To win one competition - six games, seven games. You think it's fair?"

Messi captained Argentina to a World Cup triumph in 2022.

'I'm an open person'

Ronaldo's second spell with Manchester United didn't reach the heights of his prior stint from 2003-09, when he won the Champions League and six major domestic honors ahead of his spectacular nine-year stay with Real Madrid. He revealed his enduring fondness for United and how it makes him sad that the club is struggling to revive its past glories.

"Manchester United, right now, they don't have a structure," the attacker said. "I hope that changes in the future ... because the potential of the club is amazing. It's one of the most important clubs of the century."

Despite his continued prolificacy for Al-Nassr and Portugal, the Sporting CP product is regularly asked when he'll retire from soccer. The all-time record goal-scorer in men's international soccer conceded that he'll step away from the game "soon."

"I think I will prepared," the veteran shared. "It will tough, of course. It will be difficult, yes. Probably I will cry, yes. Yeah, (it's) normal, and I'm an easy guy to cry. I'm not keep my feelings (hidden). I'm honest. I'm an open person."

Ronaldo said one thing he'll focus on after hanging up his boots is his YouTube channel. He has 77 million subscribers on the platform.

"I'm going to spend more time on that to learn to do more stuff," he said. "I think I'm going to do the funny things and things I'm not used to doing before."