Cristiano Ronaldo and Co enjoy the luxuries of holiday-resort compounds
The luxuries and high-end lifestyle on offer to stars in the Saudi Pro League (SPL) has been revealed.
2023 was the year that Saudi Arabia really made its mark upon football, building upon their success at last year's World Cup where they beat eventual winners Argentina in the group stage.
Cristiano Ronaldo was the first big name to move to the kingdom, signing a staggering £173m-a-year-deal after his acrimonious exit from Manchester United.
He was followed by several huge names in the summer as SPL clubs splurged more than £700million on the likes of Karim Benzema, Neymar and Premier League stars such as N'Golo Kante, Jordan Henderson and Fabinho.
And in an investigation by The Times, a snapshot into life for these footballers and their families in a deeply conservative state has been revealed.
Firstly, along with several players, some big-name managers also moved to the Middle East, including Steven Gerrard.
However, according to the report, both Gerrard and his former Liverpool colleague Henderson reside in Bahrain, the tiny island nation of skyscrapers, white sand beaches and a more liberal lifestyle than its border nation Saudi Arabia.
Their children are enrolled at the local British school, while they are occasionally seen having a drink in the nearby rugby club.
It is a short cross-border commute to Dammam, where Al-Ettifaq are based, with the journey taking around 35 minutes.
Nevertheless, most of the other new arrivals to the SPL do live in Saudi Arabia with a whole host of amenities and high-scale luxuries available to the stars earning enormous salaries, including Neymar, who is reportedly on a tax-free two-year contract worth £260million at Al-Hilal.
The report claims the players live in gigantic villas, which could
Read on m.allfootballapp.com
