{"id":21229,"date":"2023-09-08T18:46:45","date_gmt":"2023-09-08T18:46:45","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/eritrea\/all-news\/saudi-pro-league-could-be-better-than-ligue-1-already-says-neymar"},"modified":"2023-09-08T19:09:02","modified_gmt":"2023-09-08T19:09:02","slug":"saudi-pro-league-could-be-better-than-ligue-1-already-says-neymar","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/eritrea\/all-news\/saudi-pro-league-could-be-better-than-ligue-1-already-says-neymar","title":{"rendered":"Saudi Pro League could be better than Ligue 1 already, says Neymar"},"content":{"rendered":"

Africa-Press – Eritrea. <\/strong><\/span>Saudi Arabia\u2019s football league could already be stronger than France\u2019s Ligue 1, says Brazil captain Neymar.<\/p>\n

The 31-year-old forward moved to the Saudi Pro League from Paris St-Germain in August for about \u00a377.5m and add-ons.<\/p>\n

Neymar joined Al-Hilal in a transfer window that saw Saudi clubs spend more than \u00a3700m on overseas players.<\/p>\n

\u201cFor the names that went to Saudi Arabia, I wouldn\u2019t be surprised if the Saudi league is better than the French,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

Saudi clubs\u2019 spending this summer on international transfers was second only to the Premier League, whose teams spent just under \u00a31.6bn on overseas deals, according to figures from football governing body Fifa.<\/p>\n

While Al-Ittihad were unable to prise Mohamed Salah away from Liverpool, Salah\u2019s former team-mates Jordan Henderson, Roberto Firmino and Fabinho were among the Premier League players to move to Saudi Arabia.<\/p>\n

Others to make the switch to the Saudi Pro League have included Inter Milan\u2019s Champions League final captain Marcelo Brozovic, Barcelona\u2019s Franck Kessie, Celtic\u2019s Jota and Lazio midfielder Sergej Milinkovic-Savic.<\/p>\n

There could have been a new world-record transfer too. PSG gave Al-Hilal permission to talk to Kylian Mbappe after making a \u00a3259m bid, but the forward opted to stay with the French champions and Neymar was sold instead.<\/p>\n

Neymar helped PSG win five Ligue 1 titles although his time in Paris was hampered by ankle injuries after moving from Barcelona for a record fee of \u00a3200m in 2017.<\/p>\n

Speaking at a news conference while on Brazilian international duty, Neymar said: \u201cI can assure you the football in Saudi Arabia is the same. The ball is round, we have goalposts.<\/p>\n

For More News And Analysis About Eritrea<\/a> Follow Africa-Press<\/a><\/strong><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Africa-Press – Eritrea. Saudi Arabia\u2019s football league could already be stronger than France\u2019s Ligue 1, says Brazil captain Neymar. The 31-year-old forward moved to the Saudi Pro League from Paris St-Germain in August for about \u00a377.5m and add-ons. Neymar joined Al-Hilal in a transfer window that saw Saudi clubs spend more than \u00a3700m on overseas […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":84,"featured_media":21228,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2,17],"tags":[242,243,233],"class_list":["post-21229","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-all-news","category-sport","tag-africa-press","tag-africa-press-eritrea","tag-eritrea"],"yoast_head":"\nSaudi Pro League could be better than Ligue 1 already, says Neymar - Eritrea<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"Saudi Arabia\u2019s football league could already be stronger than France\u2019s Ligue 1, says Brazil captain Neymar. 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