A World Cup winner has revealed he would love to see Cristiano Ronaldo switch to MLS and claims he could bring more than Lionel Messi to the league.
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Ronaldo's contract at Al-Nassr is upLinked with MLS switchMessi starring at Inter MiamiFollow GOAL on WhatsApp! 🟢📱WHAT HAPPENED?
Marcel Desailly, who starred as France lifted the World Cup on home soil in 1998, suggests that Ronaldo could take MLS to a new level ahead of the 2026 World Cup in North America. He acknowledges that Messi's time at Inter Miami has inspired more interest in the game in the U.S. but claims that Ronaldo is even more commercially appealing.
AdvertisementGetty/GOALWHAT DESAILLY SAID
Desailly told Oddspedia: "I'd like to see Cristiano Ronaldo in America, because of the 2026 World Cup. Look at the World Cup in the Middle East, Saudi Arabia decided to use sports like tennis, golf and now football. We brought the best players to Saudi, which brought football to Asia, India, China, the Philippines, Vietnam and more. I would love to see Cristiano in America for the same reasons – he will bring the culture of soccer, which they don’t have yet. Messi has brought energy, but Cristiano could bring a real interest from sponsors, big brands that don’t yet sponsor football."
THE BIGGER PICTURE
No MLS club has openly spoken about attracting Ronaldo to the league but the idea of signing him is one that is shared by several experts. ESPN analyst Herculez Gomez claimed recently that if the five-time Ballon d'Or winner joined Messi in America, "everybody in the world will watch the league".
AFPWHAT NEXT FOR RONALDO?
Latest reports suggest that Ronaldo will extend his contract with Al-Nassr in Saudi Arabia, with his current deal set to end in June. There has also been a suggestion that he could join a team competing in the Club World Cup on a short-term deal.
