20 January 2024 , 12:17
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Aymeric Laporte has seemingly confirmed there are several 'dissatisfied players' in Saudi Arabia - despite claims to the contrary by his Al-Nassr teammate Cristiano Ronaldo.
The Saudi Pro League has come under the spotlight this week after Jordan Henderson, one of the most high-profile summer acquisitions, tore up his contract with Al-Ettifaq to return to Europe just six months after quitting Liverpool.
Henderson's decision to call time on his spell in the Gulf State coincided with comments from Ronaldo, who claimed the Saudi Pro League has already eclipsed Ligue 1 : one of Europe's major leagues.
He said: "Saudi League is not worse than Ligue 1. Saudi Pro League is more competitive than Ligue 1, I can say that after one year spent there. We are better than French league already now."
The multi-time Ballon d'Or winner continued: "I feel so happy at Al Nassr, it’s a great move. Saudi is in a process, it will take long... but step by step they will go to the top level. I think Saudi Pro League will be among the top three leagues in the world. People in Saudi will be proud."
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But while Ronaldo is loving life in Saudi Arabia, Laporte, formerly of Manchester City, has painted a fairly damning picture of day-to-day life in the Middle East.
The Spain defender is quoted by AS as saying: "It's a big change compared to Europe, but in the end it's all adaptation. They haven't made it easy for us. In fact, there are many players who are dissatisfied, but hey; We are working on it every day, negotiating so to speak, and seeing 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.”
Cristiano Ronaldo lauded the Saudi Pro League earlier this week (Yasser Bakhsh/Getty Images)He continued: “In every sense, but also on a day-to-day basis. Life for them… they take everything lightly. 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.”
When the defender was asked if issues were spoken about by players behind closed doors, he replied: “ To be honest, many of us have also come here not only for football. 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."
Laporte has since replied to a different publication who have re-shared some of his quotes with a red cross on social media, although it's currently unclear what he means by this.