Louis Saha says his former Manchester United team-mate Cristiano Ronaldo would “score more goals in MLS than Lionel Messi” if he moved to America.
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South American GOAT named MVP in 2024Eternal rival still going strong in Saudi ArabiaBoth will play on for the foreseeable futureFollow GOAL on WhatsApp! 🟢📱GettyWHAT HAPPENED?
Eight-time Ballon d’Or winner Messi was recently named MVP for the 2024 campaign, with the Argentine superstar being recognised as the top-performing player in North America. Despite sitting out several games through injury, he still registered 36 goal contributions across all competitions.
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His 22 efforts in MLS, alongside 12 assists, helped Inter Miami to a historic Supporters’ Shield triumph, as the record books were rewritten. Saha, though, believes that Ronaldo would be even more productive if he headed to the United States – having shown what he is still capable of at Al-Nassr in the Saudi Pro League.
GettyWHAT SAHA SAID
Ex-United striker Saha told : “Cristiano Ronaldo would’ve scored more goals in MLS than Lionel Messi has, because Messi scored 20 with so many quality players around him. As I’ve said before, I don’t think that Ronaldo needs to have the same quality around him to score as many goals, when he scores 30 goals in a season that isn’t enough for him, wherever he is playing.
“He wouldn’t be happy with 20 goals in the league and we saw last year that he scored 35 goals in the league and 50 in all competitions. Messi is a different player now, he’s not out there to break records and score more goals, he is relaxed on the pitch. Ronaldo is still looking to break records.”
WHAT NEXT?
Ronaldo is in the process of chasing down 1,000 career goals before considering retirement. He is 39 years of age, but is expected to agree another contract somewhere in 2025 – with Messi also committed to at least 12 more months at Inter Miami.