Ivan Toney tops Saudi scoring, says Pro League’s standard is high after following Ronaldo

Ivan Toney has explained why he followed Cristiano Ronaldo to the Saudi Pro League and, after a hat-trick in his latest outing, moved to the top of the Saudi scoring charts ahead of Ronaldo, Goal reports. The 29-year-old left the Premier League for Al-Ahli in August 2024 in a £40 million deal after scoring 20 goals for Brentford in 2022-23; he has since scored 56 goals in 72 appearances for Al-Ahli and tasted Asian Champions League success last season.

Toney told The Mirror he was pleasantly surprised by the quality in Saudi Arabia: "I didn’t know too much about the Pro League, but then Ronaldo moved here in 2023... When the option came around for me to move, I dived deeper into it to see what it was about. And, by that point, it was looking good." He added that on arrival he knew "it was going to be tough" and that "that’s paying off." He hopes his form will earn him a place in Thomas Tuchel’s plans for the 2026 World Cup as back-up to Harry Kane, saying he has felt "a real sense of anticipating where the ball could drop" and that scoring is not just luck.

Toney pointed to experienced team-mates such as Roberto Firmino, Riyad Mahrez and Edouard Mendy and argued "there are players in this league that could still play in the Premier League. The standard is high... If Al-Ahli were in the Premier League, we’d finish quite high." Al-Ahli are third in the Saudi Pro League, level on points with Ronaldo's Al-Nassr, ahead of a meeting with table-topping Al-Hilal on Monday.

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