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JEDDAH (Reuters) -Liverpool forward Mohamed Salah would be a perfect fit for the Saudi Pro League but the trend is towards younger players, according to sports minister Prince Abdulaziz bin Turki Al-Faisal.
Salah, 32, was linked with a move to Saudi before signing a contract extension to 2027 with the Premier League leaders this month.
"He's a superstar. He's an iconic Arab Muslim. He fits the identity of playing in the Saudi League," said Al-Faisal, speaking at the Saudi Formula One Grand Prix, of the Egypt international.
"I think from day one they linked Saudi to him, even though there wasn't any discussions. But it's good to have that, you know.
"Now you can see that any player who wants to renew their contract...they're saying they're coming to Saudi. Most, 90% of it, is not true."
The minister said clubs had recently gone more for youth after bringing in the likes of Al-Nassr's Cristiano Ronaldo, 40, Al-Ittihad's Karim Benzema, 37, and Salah's former Liverpool teammate Sadio Mane, 33, also at Al-Nassr.
"You can see the Saudi players being more determined, more disciplined in their training because they know that they're going to face top players every weekend and they have to be ready," Al-Faisal said.
"It takes you a long time to get that mentality in," he continued, citing the example set by Ronaldo of being first in for training and last to leave.
"It's the determination that is there, that image is reflected straight away to the youth. And I think that's really the goal of what we wanted to achieve."
Al-Faisal said the average age in the Saudi league had dropped this year from 29 to 26 and that the aim was to get it down to 24.
He also hoped it would become a two-way street.
"We have more than 12 players playing in Europe. They've never played before there. We just want to normalise that relationship where players come in to Saudi and they go out of Saudi, both Saudi players and international," Al-Faisal added.
Saudi Arabia, due to host the men's World Cup in 2034, have yet to qualify for next year's finals.
The country has been accused of "sportswashing" its human rights record through heavy investment in sport. Saudi Arabia denies accusations of human rights abuses.
(Reporting by Alan Baldwin, editing by Ed Osmond)
