Footballers can dress up moves to the Saudi Pro League however they wish, but the plain fact of the matter is that anyone going there from a top five European League is only doing so for money.
There can’t be any football fan that would truly believe a player if he insisted that he was going there to further his career.
The simple reason for that is the Saudi Pro League is currently only the 68th best in the world, according to TeamForm.
To put that in some sort of perspective, the league is viewed as worse than Azerbaijan’s Premyer Liqa, Georgia’s Erovnuli Liga, England’s League One and Israel’s Ligat ha’Al.
When the platitudes are espoused by players in press conferences, they’re fooling no one.
Cristiano Ronaldo simply wouldn’t have countenanced ever going to Saudi if it weren’t for the issue of no top European club wanting to sign him and the Pro League being potentially his only option, both in terms of a league to play in and a club that could afford his wages.
EXCLUSIVE: Marco Verratti to Al Hilal, deal at advanced stages! Saudi club now closing in on agreement with PSG for the Italian midfielder ???? #AlHilal
Three year contract offered to Verratti, documents to be prepared/checked soon.
Here we go soon — if all goes to plan. pic.twitter.com/ninO5Loyo1
— Fabrizio Romano (@FabrizioRomano) July 26, 2023
According to Fabrizio Romano, PSG star, Marco Verratti appears to be the latest to be assuaged by a huge pay packet, rather than the continued ambition of success in Europe.
Ruben Neves, Jordan Henderson, Roberto Firmino, Malcom et al, and those other players on the verge of moves to Saudi… they’ve finally shown their true colours.
Footballers, prepared to dispense with their morals… for a price.
Disgusting.
I can’t believe it took the Saudi Pro League fro you to realise football has no morals. It’s not the players, it’s the game.
We blame refs when players cheat, we see managers show open disrespect to officials, we see FIFA and UEFA act in a corrupt manner.
The Premier League, Champions League etc, has no morals, it just feeds the big clubs.
In 5 years the Saudi League will be bigger than the Premier.
Oh get off your high horse. Like western investments and meddling in third world politics doesn’t completely reshape the world also. Give me a break.
American and British are the last ones who could talk about morals and “dirty money” as empires that exploited and enslaved the rest of the planet for centuries. You love Chinese, Russian, Arab money when they’re investing in your companies and shopping in your cities, boosting your economy, it’s when they try to build on their own that everyone suddenly has a problem. I think it shows your true colors..
I agree with your main point, but can’t take TeamForm seriously when it says the Scottish league is worse than the A League, Belarus etc.