Cristiano Ronaldo: No UAE ending for me

Abu Dhabi: The UAE’s Arabian Gulf League has attracted a number of footballing luminaries over the years, including Diego Maradona and Fabio Cannavaro, but Cristiano Ronaldo is adamant he will not seek a similar desert swansong to his illustrious career.

The Real Madrid superstar said on Britain’s The Jonathan Ross television chat show that he has another “six or seven years” left at the top and that he wants to finish with “dignity” rather than chase a lucrative pay-day in an emerging league.

The 30-year-old Real Madrid striker also believes his nemesis Lionel Messi will prevent him from securing a third consecutive Ballon d’Or trophy awarded to the Fifa world player of the year in January.

Asked by chat-show host Ross whether a move to Major League Soccer in the United States or the Middle East would appeal, Ronaldo, who is promoting his eponymously titled new documentary, said: “In my mind I want to finish at the top level. I want to finish with dignity. [At a] good club.

“That doesn’t mean to go to USA, Qatar or Dubai is not good, but I don’t see myself [going].”

Ronaldo went on to all but concede his Ballon d’Or crown — he has won the award for the past two years and three times in total — to four-time winner Messi, on account of his rival having won a treble of European Champions League, Spanish La Liga and Spanish King’s Cup.

“To be honest, I think Messi is going to win,” Ronaldo said on the television show, which will be aired in the United Kingdom on Saturday night. “This kind of trophy depends on votes and he won competitions. He won the Champions League and La Liga.”

However, the Portuguese still believes last season was his best to date, having scored a staggering 66 goals in 58 games for club and country, 32 coming after the turn of the year, including five hat-tricks.

Add to that the 13 he has already notched this year, and it edges him three clear of Messi’s 42 since January.

Ronaldo said: “You win competitions, you win the Champions League you win the league in terms of individual. I did probably the best season of my career which is good and I was the highest scorer in Europe [but] it’s all about votes, it’s difficult and to be honest I’m not very worried about that because as I said many times, I never thought I’d win three times to be honest.”

Does the battle to win the prestigious award fuel their rivalry?

Ronaldo replied: “I don’t have rivals, we have a normal relationship. We shared this stage at Fifa for eight years.

“No one has done that in the past — only us — so it’s good. I have a good relationship with him, he plays for one club, I play for another club. He won the best for him, I won the best for me.

“We have a good relationship, we are not old friends, but we respect each other.”