Seven star players who have already left the Saudi Pro League

Two years have passed since the Saudi Pro League shocked the world of football by signing some of the sport’s biggest names, with the likes of Neymar, Karim Benzema, Roberto Firmino and Jordan Henderson joining clubs in the Gulf state.

Superstars such as Ederson and Luka Modric continue to be linked with transfers to the Saudi Pro League, but it remains to be seen whether it will quite fulfil its ambitions of becoming one of football’s top leagues after being talked up by bellwether marquee signing Cristiano Ronaldo.

Spain’s Euro 2024 winner Aymeric Laporte is among those who have expressed reservations about life in Saudi Arabia, although it remains to be seen whether he’ll make the return to Europe in the coming months. He wouldn’t be the first, though – here are six high-profile names that have left the Saudi Pro League in recent years.

Neymar

Upon making the move to Al-Hilal, Neymar was still considered as one of the best players in the world.

He produced 35 goal contributions in 29 appearances during his final season with PSG and was tipped to take the Saudi Pro League by storm.

Al-Hilal rolled out the red carpet for the Brazilian superstar and handed him a mammoth £1.6million weekly wage.

Unfortunately, fans in Saudi Arabia barely saw Neymar play during his two-year stint in the Middle East as he made just seven appearances for the club in total.

After spending the majority of his Al-Hilal career recovering from an ACL injury that he sustained while on international duty, his contract was cancelled by mutual consent earlier this year.

Gabri Veiga

While most players who’ve made the move to Saudi have been in the latter stages of their career, that didn’t apply to Veiga.

The Spaniard was just 21 years old when he made the switch to Al-Ahli and he subsequently received a fair amount of criticism for the move.

However, after spending just two years in Saudi Arabia, he’s now set to leave Al-Ahli and join Porto in a deal worth €15m plus add-ons.

Jordan Henderson

Former Liverpool captain Henderson lasted less than half a season with Steven Gerrard’s Al Ettifaq.

After facing a barrage of criticism for the move, given Saudi Arabia’s record when it comes to gay rights and his previously outspoken stance as an LGBT ally, Henderson has cut something of a sheepish figure.

“In life, you know, you can, if you want to, call them regrets or mistakes. You can call them that,” he told reporters shortly after signing for Ajax in January.

Could’ve gone better.

READ: Jordan Henderson & 7 other footballers that absolutely f*cked it with ill-advised transfers

Juanmi

The La Liga stalwart, once of Southampton, had fallen down the pecking order at Real Betis and was sent out on a season-long loan to Al-Riyadh.

But the loan move was cut short mid-season, with Juanmi instead preferring to return to Spain and see out the remainder of the campaign out on loan at strugglers Cadiz.

He’s now back playing for Real Betis and still has another year to run on his contract with the Spanish side.

READ NEXT: ‘Come to see Cristiano?’: Ronaldo, Riyadh & the Saudi Pro League experience

TRY A QUIZ: Can you name the 25 most expensive transfers of all time?

David Ospina

Predating the current wave of megastars to the Saudi Pro League, former Arsenal ‘keeper Ospina joined Al Nassr half a season before Ronaldo, having fallen down the pecking order in his final season at Napoli.

The veteran Colombia international saw out his two-year deal in Riyadh before making a romantic homecoming to boyhood club Atletico Nacional.

Ever Banega

A grizzled doyen of any Streets Won’t Forget XI worth its salt, Banega was a key part of a Sevilla side that racked up Europa Leagues for fun and an Argentina team that heartbreakingly missed out on glory with three successive final defeats between 2014 anf 2016.

The midfielder demonstrated his eternal class in his final season at Sevilla, with his role in their last – 2019-20 – Europa League trophy offering evidence that he could’ve stuck around at a high European level for many more years.

Instead, he waved goodbye by taking up a lucrative offer from Al Shabab, where he actually spent four full seasons and racked up over a hundred appearances.

After a healthy bump to his retirement pot, 36-year-old Banega has departed the gulf state and returned to his hometown Rosario, signing for Newell’s Old Boys.

Talisca

The Brazilian attacking midfielder spent three and a half years playing in Saudi, but was shown the exit door by Al-Nassr earlier this year.

He’s since joined Fenerbahce and has been dropping cryptic hints on social media regarding Al-Nassr’s struggles without him.

“The problem is that you always want to find someone to blame for the defeats, but you don’t see where the real mistake lies,” Talisca said in response to an Al-Nassr fan on X.

“Stop acting like this all the time. You know where the mistake is, you’re just afraid to say it, lol.”