Former Manchester City defender Aymeric Laporte has revealed that many players are “dissatisfied” after moving to the Saudi Pro League.
A number of the world’s biggest stars swapped Europe for Saudi Arabia in 2023, including Cristiano Ronaldo, Neymar and Karim Benzema.
Ex-Liverpool skipper Jordan Henderson was another, but the England midfielder has cut short his reportedly unhappy spell at Al-Ettifaq after just six months to return to Europe with Ajax.
And Laporte, a treble winner with City last season, says players are finding it difficult – despite the huge financial rewards.
“It’s a big change compared to Europe, but in the end it’s all adaptation,” the defender told Spanish newspaper AS.
“They haven’t made it easy for us. In fact, there are many players that are dissatisfied. They do look after us but not enough for my liking. That is to say, in Europe they pay you a good salary, but they take better care of you.
“I speak from my own experience and I don’t know what the experience of others is like. For my part, what I have seen is that they try to bring you in, but then there is the day-to-day life and that is different.”
Laporte also opened up on the differences in mindset and working culture between Europe and Saudi Arabia.
“An ultimatum that you may give them doesn’t matter to them,” he said. “I mean, they are really going about their business. You negotiate something and then they don’t accept it after you have signed it.
“It’s a bit of a drama and I don’t know what [would happen] in Europe. Of course, the same thing that they take away from you in that respect, they compensate in other ways.”
And Laporte, who plays with Ronaldo at Al-Nassr, admits he is finding life a little boring away from the football field.
“Being honest, many of us have come here not just for the football,” he said.
“Many of us are happy with that, but I look for also somethinbg more than just the financial aspect and so on. In terms of quality of life, I expected something different because in the end you spend three hours a day in the car.”
And he added: “Riyadh is a nightmare for traffic, time lost inside the car.”
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