“Not good enough” - Man Utd legend gives brutal explanation for Cristiano Ronaldo and Karim Benzema’s Saudi Pro League moves

Manchester United legend Dwight Yorke gave a brutal explanation for Cristiano Ronaldo and Karim Benzema’s move to the Saudi Pro League.

The Saudi Pro League has made headlines this summer, with the likes of Benzema, N’Golo Kante and Ruben Neves having all joined sides in the burgeoning league.

Saudi Arabia’s Public Investment Fund took over four of the country’s top teams - Al-Ittihad, Al-Nassr, Al-Hilal and Al-Ahli - while the riches of the other 14 top-flight clubs have also attracted Europe’s elite.

Ronaldo, who pioneered a surge of players moving to the Gulf state, has talked up the standard of the league.

When asked about making a move to the U.S. like his former rival Lionel Messi, Ronaldo said in July via ESPN: "The Saudi league is better than MLS. I opened the way to the Saudi league, and now all the players are coming here.

"In one year, more and more top players will come to Saudi. In a year the Saudi league will overtake the Turkish league and Dutch league.”

However, former United striker Yorke insisted that players moving to the Saudi Pro League were only doing so as they no longer were of the required quality to thrive in Europe.

Yorke on Saudi Pro League

Yorke, who scored 48 goals in 96 games for United across four years, insisted that the players moving to the Saudi Pro League were no longer good enough to feature in the Champions League.

The 51-year-old said via OLGB: "The age of the Saudi Pro League is not good enough to be in the Champions League.

“The players who have joined that league, such as Cristiano Ronaldo, N'Golo Kante and Karim Benzema, they were all in Europe when they were in their prime, they've gone to the Saudi Arabian league now they're in their mid-thirties.

"Everyone knows when you reach that age, you're on the last legs of your footballing career.

“Those big names resonate well with European football, but that's only because they were in their prime in Europe, they've gone to the Saudi league because they're older now, so I don't think they have the right to play in the Champions League yet."

Topics: Football, Saudi Pro League, Saudi Arabia, Transfers, Premier League, Cristiano Ronaldo, Karim Benzema

Chris Byfield

Sport journalist with experience writing on football, rugby, boxing and the Olympics. I'm also a Crystal Palace fan. Please don't hold this against me.