GRAY: SAUDI LEAGUE IS NOT CHINA

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 elitelevel 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