If it felt like Cristiano Ronaldo was being sent into exile when he left Manchester United in a huff, the Saudi Pro League has now positioned itself more centrally on the footballing map.

A summer of vast and expensive recruiting has turned a number of heads and the scale of the transfers has alerted the rest of Europe to dangers and opportunities. Pep Guardiola warned that the spending had "changed the market" and would continue to do so, and Manchester City used that to sell Riyad Mahrez for PS30m and Aymeric Laporte for PS23.6m.

All eyes are on what happens next. On the one hand, there are suggestions that Mo Salah could become the biggest name to be tempted over to the country yet the jury is still out on how competitive the league can and will be.

During the international break, Jordan Henderson has been forced to defend his move from Liverpool to Al Ettifaq and did not appreciate being booed by England fans at Wembley during the 1-0 friendly win over Australia. There are off-field issues that contributed to that, but there is also a legitimate question over whether someone who has swapped the toughest league in the world for what appears to be a much lower standard should still be representing his country given the other options in his position.

Elsewhere in Europe, Laporte did not appear to be under such stresses. The former City star did the rounds on social media for a ludicrously good bit of skill with Spain teammate Gavi where the two just wellied the ball between each other effortlessly while never letting the ball touch the floor; in a more serious setting, Laporte then kept Erling Haaland quiet as his national team beat Norway 2-0 away from home.

If Henderson would appear to present the dangers for players moving to Saudi Arabia, Laporte does not appear to have lost any standing. Having represented Spain at the last two major tournaments, he seems more likely to make Euro 2024 than Henderson does - and Henderson still has a real chance with Gareth Southgate still backing him.

City saw in the summer that the Saudi Pro League was a new destination for top talent, and the Etihad houses some of the best talent in the world that attracts attention every summer; losing Mahrez wasn't a target for the Blues but the player wanted a new challenge and Al Ahli came up with a big offer. It appears likely that there will be more deals like that going forward.

Anyone looking at the coverage Henderson has had may think twice before making the switch, yet Laporte could be used as an example of how to make a success of it.