Aymeric Laporte has spoken about life so far in Saudi Arabia following his transfer from Man City. Aymeric Laporte was amongst the wave of high-profile names who left Europe to sign for a variety of clubs in Saudi Arabia – a trend which saw some of the biggest wage packets in football so far. The 29-year-old left Manchester City in a £23.6m deal to sign for Al-Nassr.
The Al-Nassr defender spoke to AS on life so far in Saudi Arabia: “It’s a big change compared to Europe, but in the end it’s all adaption. They haven’t made it easy for us. In fact, there are many players who are dissatisfied, but hey, we are working on it every day.”
“We are working on it every day, negotiating so to speak, and seeing if it improves a little because this is something new for them too – having European players who already have a long career. Maybe they are not used to this and have to adapt to a little more seriousness.”
“They take everything lightly.. I mean they’re really going about their business. You negotiate something and then they don’t accept it after you signed it. They fight you.”
“They take care of us, but not enough for my taste. That is to say, in Europe they pay you a good salary, but they take better care of you.”
“Leaving? No, let’s see. At the moment, I haven’t thought about it. But if I’m disappointed in such a short time, you wonder what to do. That moment has not arrived yet, but in the future it could be if this dynamic continues.”
“To be honest, many of us have also come here not only for football. Many of us are happy with that, but I am also looking for something beyond that is not the economic part and such. In terms of quality of life, I expected something different because in the end here you spend three hours a day in the car. Riyadh is a waste of traffic, time is wasted. Traffic is a negative point.”, Aymeric Laporte concluded.
It will be interesting to see if any other players publicly discuss life so far in Saudi Arabia, with Jordan Henderson recently terminating his Al-Ettifaq contract after just a few months there, and of course, Aymeric Laporte expressing his disappointment so far.
