A round-up of Liverpool’s former players currently plying their trade in Saudi Arabia’s glamourous Saudi Pro League
They may not have succeeded in their plans to prise Mohamed Salah from Liverpool, but the Saudi Pro League still boasts a number of Liverpool’s biggest ever stars.
Sadio Mane plays for arguably the biggest Saudi club, plying his trade alongside Cristiano Ronaldo for Al-Nassr, while Georginio Wijnaldum is managed by Steven Gerrard at Al-Ettifaq.
Meanwhile, Roberto Firmino continues to battle for his place alongside arguably Saudi’s headline signing of the summer, Ivan Toney, at Al-Ahli. Fellow Brazilian Fabinho is a more regular starter for Al-Ittihad, where Karim Benzema and N’Golo Kante are team-mates.
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The Saudi Pro League remains ambitious, but it’s still not widely followed in England. Here’s how the former Reds are faring:
Sadio speaks out
Sadio Mane has enjoyed a fine start to the campaign with Al-Nassr, proving to be an effective provider for Ronaldo, setting up five goals for his side and scoring twice in the opening six games.
Mane is looking to build on a mixed first season, when he struck 13 times for Al-Nassr, who finished a distant second to Al-Hilal despite boasting some of the most high profile stars in the league.
And Mane has been defending the level of Saudi football, which has been criticised by some.
“You can see it, the level is impressive now,” he said. “I’d even say it’s been since last year, but especially this year, too, as every team has strengthened in level.
“I also think it’s good for the league and will give more competitiveness and, of course, it’s what football fans expect, so it’s beneficial for the championship.”
Gerrard in touchline bust-up
Steven Gerrard enjoyed a promising start to the season with Al-Ettifaq, who are captained by Gini Wijnaldum, winning their first three games. But things took a turn for the worse in the past week or so, with two losses and a draw seeing his side drop to eighth in the standings.
And in the most recent match, a 1-0 defeat to Al-Raed, Gerrard angrily clashed with his opposite number Odair Hellmann on the sidelines as the two managers had to be separated by officials.
Hellmann wasn’t backing down after the game, either, telling the media: “He (Gerrard) is being criticised for the millions of dollars invested in his team since last year. And they lost to us with eight foreigners.
“We were left with three and five kids on the field. He was going crazy.
“I demanded fair play from him in the first half and he got angry. I told him that fair play was only for his own benefit. And that they didn’t need this attitude, they just had to play better, because there is no comparison in investment between the teams.”
Firmino struggles continue as Fabinho dealt blow
Things aren’t going so well for Roberto Firmino either. His Al-Ahli team have won just twice this season despite making headlines for a fee upwards of £30m in the summer.
The Brazilian scored in both of those victories but has failed to find the net in any other game and was dropped for the last match, a defeat to champions Al-Hilal. Firmino has endured a difficult time since moving to Saudi and hasn’t always been an automatic starter for his club, although he was handed the captaincy this season.
Fabinho is faring slightly better, his Al-Ittihad side having won all but one of their six matches and sitting second in the table. That defeat did come to champions Al-Hilal, however, the champions winning all their games so far this season and looking early favourites to retain their crown.
