One of the clearest indications of the <a href="https://www.thenationalnews.com/tags/saudi-pro-league/" target="_blank">Saudi Pro League</a>'s transformation could be seen at this summer's European Championship in Germany. <a href="https://www.thenationalnews.com/sport/football/2024/06/13/ronaldo-mitrovic-and-the-players-representing-the-saudi-pro-league-at-euro-2024/" target="_blank">Fourteen SPL players were called up</a> to represent their countries at Euro 2024, most retaining places in their national team starting XIs and dispelling the notion that moves to Saudi Arabia meant the end of international careers. N'Golo Kante was perhaps the finest example. The World Cup-winning midfielder had not represented France since March 2022, initially due to injury before being omitted from each of Didier Deschamps' Euros qualification squads. Following his debut season with Al Ittihad, Kante was recalled and slotted straight back into France's midfield, starting every game on their march to the semi-finals. Gini Wijnaldum was also among the 14. The Dutch midfielder swapped Europe for Saudi Arabia during last summer's unprecedented transfer window when $1 billion was collectively spent on recruiting some of football's biggest talents. Linking up with Steven Gerrard at Al Ettifaq, Wijnaldum played a key role in a season of progress for the Dammam club, who collected 11 more points than the previous campaign. The former Liverpool and Paris Saint-Germain midfielder started every available game, scoring six goals and creating five assists. He was then called up to Ronald Koeman's Netherlands squad for Euro 2024, where the 33-year-old made three group-stage appearances from the bench to take his total of international caps to 96. “It shows that it’s still possible for players to come here to a new league, to improve the league, and still be physically available for their country," Wijnaldum said. "It also shows that the league is stronger than everyone thought. "People were saying that if you go to the Saudi league you’re going there because you’re retiring from professional football in Europe. But it gives a different sign to what those people are thinking. It’s important players represent the Saudi league in Europe; it gives a sign that it’s possible that even if you come here you can still be available for your country.” With a hectic summer of international football, which also included the Copa America and Paris Olympics, consigned to the past, Wijnaldum and the rest of his Saudi Pro League colleagues are back focused on club duties. Now competing in his second season, the Dutchman feels he is well-placed to comment on the evolution he has witnessed within Saudi football, and believes the standard will only go from strength to strength as players and infrastructure continue to improve. “To give my real opinion on the level, I can give it now that I’ve been here a year in Saudi playing against different teams home and away," the midfielder said. "You can see it in the first half of the season and the second half that when you play the teams a second time it was totally different and that everyone is evolving. "Everyone is making big steps in development, but this season we're going to see how much the league is really developing. It’s a new year, better players are coming to the league, and the clubs are even better than before. There was already a lot of development last season but I expect more now because teams are getting better, and new and better players are coming." Wijnaldum insists that he, too, is determined to keep developing. He enjoyed a successful 16-year career in Europe, which took him from Feyenoord and PSV Eindhoven in his native Netherlands to Newcastle and Liverpool in England before brief spells in France at PSG and Roma in Italy. League titles and trophies were collected in Rotterdam, Eindhoven, and Paris, but he is best known for being a key cog in Jurgen Klopp's finest Liverpool machine – a team that won the 2018/19 Uefa Champions League and the Premier League the following season. No surprise, then, that Wijnaldum is imparting all of his knowledge and experience to his Etiffaq teammates while helping to mentor the club's younger talent. "It’s really important because I came from another football culture than them," he said. "During my career, I learnt a lot and saw a lot, and I still see a lot. So I’m just trying to give them the experience I have and try to help them develop as quickly as possible. Because there are two different football cultures, I try to show them how we do it in Europe ... how important it is to put a lot of work into development and that nothing comes by itself." As for his own late-career development, Wijnaldum couldn't ask for a better mentor than his own manager. Gerrard was one of the finest midfielders of his generation, earning legendary status at Liverpool and playing more than 100 games for England. "For me personally, because he was a midfielder, even though I’m in my 30s, I’m still developing because he’s helping me to get better," he said. "With the meetings we have, with the tips he gives me on the pitch, it’s really useful to have a manager like that.”
