Cristiano Ronaldo has put the Saudi Pro League on the soccer map, no denying that. A player of his caliber was never imagined to spend the twilight of his kicking the ball there but it surely turned out pretty well right? Neymar, Karim Benzema, and almost hundreds of revered stars followed the Portuguese superstar’s suit to grace the Middle Eastern domestic league. While many expressed their doubts and thought such a scene was beyond imagination, Ronaldo was already confident that the players would ‘follow’ him.

The Al Nassr star invited Rio Ferdinand for a lengthy chat on his recently launched YouTube channel, UR Cristiano. When his former Manchester United teammate asked him if he faced any pressure, Ronaldo denied it, but he did have other issues. Will it make sense, ‘professionally’, to be precise? Lucky for the 39-year-old, he retains a winning mentality like no other. “I felt free because any place I play, I show my love level and I will improve the league and I know that the players will follow me,” he said.

The former Real Madrid superstar insisted that it just wasn’t the financial gains that he was sure players would opt for the Saudi League easily; it was also the culture of the country’s beautiful game that made the difference. “The culture of Saudi football was nice because I have friends who played there before coaches Portuguese coaches were there. Of course, if you ask me if I expect so quickly that big stars will move there, no [I don’t], but I will expect that football will change because of me,” Ronaldo concluded.

The beautiful game has indeed changed since the day the former Juventus star set foot in the desert country. Years ago, hardly anyone knew about the Roshn Saudi League. That’s not the case now, as not a day goes by without a star being linked to leaving Europe and following in the footsteps of CR7.

However, as much as the idea of seeing a flock of players move to the Middle East looks intriguing, there are some major challenges that even Ronaldo agrees make the RSL a bit difficult to compete in.

Cristiano Ronaldo admits Saudi Arabian league is ‘not easy’

If you think that playing in the Roshn Saudi League is a walk in the park, you might be wrong. Ronaldo, who has played across five different nations and their leagues was asked about a major differentiator. While asserting that there is a big difference, he replied, “People speak more than they really know. All the leagues have issues but the [Saudi] league, I tell you 100%…it’s not easy.”

The 2016 Euro winner acknowledged that even rival players and his teammates would agree on the challenges of playing in the Roshn Saudi League, primarily due to the intense heat. As the level of hotness increases, Ronaldo admitted things get more challenging while maintaining “the level of the game.” Yet, Ronaldo didn’t shy away from taking credit for sparking the soccer culture in the Middle East.

Expressing his confidence in the project, he concluded: “In my opinion, the league is very, very good, and they still [need to] grow and improve. I’m happy because I was the pioneer of the country in football so I’m glad for that.”

Be that as it may, Cristiano Ronaldo surely deserves the credit for being the biggest game-changer. With time until he hangs up his boots, let’s see what more significant developments we get to witness.