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Neymar Jr. became the latest in a long line of players to make a move to the Middle East when ♠ he joined Saudi Pro League club Al Hilal from French giant Paris Saint-Germain, but the Brazilian superstar credits one of ♠ his rivals for starting the country’s soccer boom.

“I believe Cristiano Ronaldo started all of this and everybody called him ‘crazy,’ ♠ and this and that. Today, you see the league grow more and more,” the former PSG forward told Al Hilal’s ♠ social channels.

Ronaldo signed a two-and-a-half year contract reported to be worth more than 200 million euros ($220.16 million) with Al-Nassr ♠ in December 2024 after leaving Manchester United.

Since then, Karim Benzema, N’Golo Kanté, Kalidou Koulibaly, Edouard Mendy, Roberto Firmino, Sadio Mané ♠ and Marcelo Brozović have been among the star names to move to the Saudi Pro League.

Ronaldo moved to Al Nassr ♠ in December 2024 after leaving Manchester United. Yasser Bakhsh/Getty Images