FOOTBALL – Saudi Arabia’s top-tier professional football league “is on a par with the Premier League”, according to popular England striker Ivan Toney.
Speaking to The Guardian, Toney said that the Saudi Pro League (SPL) is now among the top in the world, having invested heavily in developing their domestic game and attracting star players of various nationalities.
Toney plays in the SPL with Al Ahli, having left the English Premier League (EPL) last summer in a £40 million ($54m) deal from Brentford.
Toney shares his opinion with fellow-SPL superstar Cristiano Ronaldo of Al Nassr.
“Ronaldo has been around the world and probably knows a lot more than me as I have only played in the Premier League, the Championship, and Leagues One and Two; for me, [the Pro League] is on a par with the Premier League,” Toney told The Guardian.
“If [Al Ahli] were in the Premier League, we’d give it a good go and we’d be close to the top four. It is a quality league and people should not turn their noses up. We saw Al Hilal play against Man City and beat them.
“I was going to tweet but I would have got killed back home, so I kept my mouth shut. But people saw the quality of Hilal. The standard in Saudi Arabia is high. They can play football here. The players here are not as known as in the
Premier League, but there are many who can play there.”
The 29-year-old scored 34 goals in all competitions last season and formed part of the team that won the AFC Champions League.
He is teammates at Al Ahli with former EPL talents Edouard Mendy and Riyad Mahrez in their current squad.
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