GRAY: SAUDI LEAGUE IS NOT CHINA ... AND CRISTIANO IS THE CATALYST
IT’S a view that Mo Salah may be happy to hear – the Saudi Pro League will NOT go the same bubble-bursting way as the Chinese Super League. Liverpool and Egypt striker Salah has been the subject of a £150million bid from the Saudis in the past 12 months – and they are expected back with an offer this summer.
But when former Liverpool captain Jordan Henderson left Al-ettifaq for Ajax in January after just a few months, eyebrows were raised over the Pro League’s future as a destination for elite-level talent.
Misfiring big-money strikers Karim Benzema and Roberto Firmino were also believed to be searching for a way out of their Saudi clubs.
Like Henderson, they have struggled for form since moving there. But talk of the Saudi football bubble bursting is premature.
The decision-makers at the top of the Pro League saw what happened in China, where firm foundations were sacrificed in favour of heavy spending. In Saudi, the pockets are deeper and the plans are long term.
The marquee signings of Benzema, Neymar, Cristiano Ronaldo, Sadio Mane and Riyad Mahrez grabbed headlines, but clubs throughout Saudi have been continuing to steadily boost the league with
European experience and quality. Former Burnley and Watford striker Andre Gray (below), who joined Al-riyadh last summer, admitted: “It’s hard to compare the Pro League with another league – and the Premier League level of football is the best in the world – but I do think a team like Al-hilal could compete in the English top flight.”
Eighteen-time champions Al-hilal signed Neymar in August. The Brazil icon has played only a handful of games after rupturing his ACL in October, but Jorge Jesus’ side are still the runaway league leaders this season.
Players, such as former Sevilla and Atletico Madrid
keeper Bono, and three stars familiar from the English top flight – Kalidou Koulibaly, Ruben Neves and Aleksandar Mitrovic – have helped the club to a world-record-breaking 28-game winning streak.
Al-hilal bought smartly beyond Neymar last summer, and it is unheralded former Lazio midfielder Sergej Milinkovic-savic who has been their star of the season so far.
But, according to Gray, the transfer of Ronaldo (right) to Al-nassr on January 1, 2023 remains the most significant in terms of the Saudis’ aspirations.
Gray said: “Cristiano is the catalyst. Their goal was Lionel Messi or Ronaldo and, if you get one of those, it’s a snowball effect. You’ve seen that with Benzema,
Neymar and this January with Ivan Rakitic – it will continue to entice the big names.
“Ronaldo has made a massive change here in terms of football.”
The Portuguese superstar’s impact on the pitch continues – he has scored 36 goals in 39 games for Al-nassr in all competitions this season.
And Henderson’s exit was certainly bigger news in England than Saudi Arabia.
Gray said: “Players leaving happens in any league in the world. Henderson and Benzema were both at their previous clubs for over a decade before coming here and Henderson had been in England his whole life. It’s a big change – unlike anything they’d have experienced. I know myself it’s tough with a family.” Gray’s view is shared by former Sweden winger Christian Wilhelmsson, 44, who became an Al-hilal fan favourite after moving to Riyadh in 2008 following spells at Roma, Bolton and Deportivo la Coruna.
Wilhelmsson, a friend and ex-team-mate of Zlatan Ibrahimovic, lives in Dubai and attends Al-hilal games. He said: “Some of these older players have found the league isn’t as easy as they thought.”
But he added: “We are still just 12 months in and if the Saudis are going to really reach their ambitions they will have to keep on injecting this kind of money.”