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Aymeric Laporte moved from Manchester City to Al-Nassr in the summer after four and a half years

Photo: Michael Regan / Getty Images

French soccer star Aymeric Laporte is apparently dissatisfied with the living conditions and sporting conditions in Saudi Arabia.

"It's a big change compared to Europe," he told the Spanish newspaper As.

»You didn't make it easy for us.

There are many players who are dissatisfied.«

Laporte played in Manchester City's defense for four and a half years, with the Citizens he won the Premier League five times and won the Champions League title in 2023.

Last summer, the 29-year-old moved to Al-Nassr in the Saudi Pro League.

"We're working on it every day, negotiating, so to speak, to see if it gets a little better," he said.

It is something new for Saudi Arabian clubs to have European players with long careers in their ranks.

"Maybe they're not used to this and need to get used to a little more seriousness."

In Saudi Arabia “everything is taken lightly” and in Europe more care is taken for the players.

"They care, but not enough for my taste," said Laporte about his experiences in Saudi Arabia.

He doesn't seem to be convinced by his private life there either.

"As far as quality of life is concerned, I expected something different because here you end up spending three hours a day in the car." In the Saudi Arabian capital Riyadh you experience "a waste of time spent in the car."

He's still not thinking about a change.

Cristiano Ronaldo praises the Saudi Pro League

Laporte's teammate Cristiano Ronaldo praised the sporting quality of the Saudi Arabian football league on Friday.

»I've been playing there for a year and I know what I'm talking about.

I think we are better than the French league at the moment," said the 38-year-old at the Globe Soccer Awards in Dubai.

In France's Ligue 1 there are only "two or three teams at a good level," said Ronaldo, "there is more competition in Saudi Arabia."

Step by step, the Saudi Pro League will develop into one of the three or four best leagues in the world, predicted the former star striker of the top European clubs Manchester United, Real Madrid and Juventus Turin.

Last summer, Saudi clubs started a transfer offensive with a lot of money and lured some well-known players and coaches to the country.

But at the moment it seems as if not all players share Ronaldo's enthusiasm.

Englishman Jordan Henderson moved to Ajax Amsterdam six months after his controversial move to Saudi Arabia.

(Read more about it here. )

His former teammate at Liverpool FC, Roberto Firmino, is also said to be thinking about a move back to Europe.

The same was reported about the French former world footballer Karim Benzema.

mlb/dpa