After Jordan Henderson’s departure from the Pro League to join Ajax, a fellow Premier League emigre has spoken of the difficulty of life in Saudi Arabian football.
The defender Aymeric Laporte, formerly of Manchester City and a Spain international, plays for Al-Nassr, the club of Cristiano Ronaldo. While the Portuguese, speaking at an awards event in Dubai, on Friday said the Pro League was better than France’s Ligue 1, his teammate spoke far less favourably.
Laporte said it has proven difficult to adapt to his new surroundings in an interview with Spanish newspaper AS. “It is a big change compared to Europe, but in the end it is all about adaptation,” said the five-time English Premier League winner. “They have not made it easy for us. In fact, there are many players that are discontented. We are working on it every day, negotiating so to speak, and to see if it improves a little because this is something new for them too, having European players who already have a long career. Maybe they are not used to this and have to adapt to a little more seriousness.
Laporte acknowledged the financial rewards on offer, and said he had no plans to leave but Henderson’s exit, and talk of dissatisfaction from Roberto Firmino and Karim Benzema, both linked with loan moves back to Europe, has thrown deep doubts in what became a gold rush for players last summer.
“Many of us have also come here not only for football,” said Laporte. “Many of us are happy with that, but I am also looking for something beyond that is not the economic part and such. In terms of quality of life, I expected something different because in the end here you spend three hours a day in the car. Riyadh is a waste of traffic, of time wasted in the car.”
That contravened the glowing review given to Saudi football from Ronaldo, who on Friday received three Globe Soccer awards in Dubai after scoring 54 goals in 59 games for Al-Nassr. He declared: “To be honest, I think the Saudi league is not worse than the French league, in my opinion. In Saudi, I think it is more competitive. They can say whatever they want; it is just an opinion. I have played here for one year so I know what I am talking about. But, I think right now we are better than the French league.”
Laporte meanwhile signalled that a lack of professionalism has been problematic. “The ultimatum you can give them doesn’t matter to them. I mean, they’re really going about their business. You negotiate something and then they don’t accept it after you have signed it. They fight you.”
Friday saw Henderson unveiled by Ajax after his ill-starred spell with Al-Ettifaq. The former Liverpool captain refused to criticise his now-former employers: “I haven’t got a bad word to say about anybody over there in the league, or the club. I’ll have friends over there that I’ll speak to forever.”
