despite the recruitment of world stars, the Saudi Arabian championship struggles to convince

Several months after poaching big names from football, the Saudi Arabian championship no longer seems to generate much enthusiasm in the stadiums and among the players.

Ten days before the transfer market closes, focus on the Saudi Arabian championship, which hit the headlines last summer with hundreds of millions of euros, poaching stars such as Cristiano Ronaldo, Neymar and Karim Benzema. Six months later, has the mirage passed?

If you’re looking for criticism of the Saudi project, don’t count on Cristiano Ronaldo. “Honestly, I think the Saudi League is no worse than Ligue 1, believes the Portuguese star. There are two or three teams with a good level there. In Saudi Arabia, it’s more competitive. Today, we are better than Ligue 1 and we continue to improve.”

Players doubt the project

The Saudi championship is struggling to attract crowds, with an average of 8,300 spectators in the stadiums and players who are starting to doubt the project. Arriving last summer, Karim Benzema seems to be wondering. For his part, Jordan Henderson, the former captain of Liverpool, left Saudi Arabia only six months after his arrival and despite a salary multiplied by four. “If you want to talk about regret or failure, you can but at the same time, I learned a lot of things in Saudi Arabia, he explains. We parted on good terms, we shook hands and now I’m moving forward.”

The Englishman has never explained the reasons for his departure. It is also difficult to criticize, the Franco-Spanish defender Aymeric Laporte tried it by confiding his discomfort, before finally denying his remarks.