Cristiano Ronaldo is leading a revolution in Asian football

By Robert Mutasi

The English Premier League teams may be struggling to agree with Saudi Arabian clubs who are transferring some big-name players, but fans in Riyadh, Jeddah and other big cities in the Middle East and Asia are also having to adapt to the new football situation.

Since Cristiano Ronaldo joined Al-Nassr - one of the 'Big Four' clubs along with rivals Riyadh, Al-Hilal and Jeddah giants Al-Ittihad and Al-Ahli - since December, the country has been in the international soccer spotlight and the club's yellow jersey is becoming more and more familiar in Europe and beyond.

"Watching the color yellow or 'The Yellow' spread around the world is very satisfying and makes me happy but I also feel loyal to the local league," Nassr fan said.

Saudi league will dominate in Asia?

With the national team participating in six World Cup championships as well as winning three Asian Cups while the clubs have won the Asian Champions League six times, Saudi Arabia has been flourishing in the region and the continent.

The country's new financial strength in soccer, however, has put it on a completely different level on the field.

Cristiano did what takes years to do

Superstars not only bring more quality but are also designed to lead to more fans, advertising deals, sponsorships, product sales and investments.

Saudi Arabia's goal is for the league to be in the top 10 in the world in terms of revenue by 2030.

Already, there are positive commercial signs

Al-Nassr play Benfica on Thursday before facing Paris St-Germain and Inter Milan in Japan later this month. The club has also signed a jersey deal with Nike, with an official telling the BBC that the American outfit could help ensure the yellow shirts worn around the world are official.

In November, there were 10,000 visits to the product page of the club's website. In January - the month Ronaldo signed - that number increased to 300,000.

"We've seen a lot of Al-Nassr shirts since last season and it's increasing," says Mohammed. "Cristiano did in one go what takes marketing campaigns and trophies years to do.

"We played against Celta [Monday] and a lot of fans were there wearing Nassr shirts with Cristiano's name on the back and Nassr's logo on the front. "It's all about scaling up, it's such an upgrade."