Inside what life’s REALLY like for WAGs in Saudi

Amazon Prime’s Married to the Game, produced to offer a notion of the lives of soccer WAGs within the Premier League, has given an perception into Riyad Mahrez‘s transfer to Saudi Arabia, in addition to that of his spouse Taylor Ward.

Mahrez left Manchester City within the summer season switch window to affix Al Ahli in a deal value £30million, 5 years on from becoming a member of the Treble winners from Leicester.

The transfer initially got here as a shock to Ward, who had little alternative however to pack up her baggage and make the transfer to the Middle East, abandoning her family and friends for a brand new tradition and life.

Mahrez’s as much as £750,000-a-week wages might have softened the blow, however the six-part actuality sequence showcases the struggles of the transfer, which takes place in the course of the pair’s wedding ceremony plans.

From leaving her life in Manchester behind to travelling again recurrently to plan her wedding ceremony, the sequence supplies a glance backstage of Ward’s transfer – which, talking completely to Mail Sport, she revealed as ‘superb’.

With the scenes reducing from England to Saudi Arabia, the cultural variations are notable, with Ward at one level instigating a ‘food plan coke cheers to that’ because the pair focus on rings in Jeddah forward of their second wedding ceremony.

In the fourth episode of the sequence, Ward attends certainly one of Mahrez’s video games in Saudi Arabia, sitting alone in a field and lacking a objective – which, fortuitously for her, seems to be offside – as a result of she is talking to a producer.

‘I’m a Riyad Mahrez fan, not a soccer fan,’ she says, explaining that she will not proceed watch soccer when her husband, 33, retires from enjoying.

‘She does not watch the sport actually, she sits on her cellphone,’ Mahrez says.

‘I do,’ Ward responds. ‘You’re a liar. He cannot drop the truth that as soon as he scored and it was straight after half time and I used to be nonetheless sat contained in the field. He came to visit to the field to have a good time to us all. I used to be watching it on the television and I ran straight out.

‘I need to become involved within the chants however I can not perceive them,’ Ward says because the episode cuts again to contained in the stadium.

The 26-year-old cuts a lonely determine as she watches her husband in motion, nonetheless, a far cry from her experiences on the Etihad.

‘At Man City we had a field, Riyad all the time introduced just a few pals and I’d convey my pals as effectively, course the children and whoever else,’ she says. ‘My household, every time they had been house they used to come back.

‘I higher get used to this as a result of I’ve no mates. All my pals are my major college pals and highschool pals. I’ve not likely needed to make new pals since then, which is loopy. It’s a loopy thought that I’m going to have to begin attempting to make new pals.’

And loneliness is not the one wrestle. In episode three, Ward continues to be coming to phrases with the transfer to Saudi. A rustic with a tradition fairly completely different to that of England.

Women are usually anticipated to decorate modestly within the nation, overlaying up giant quantities of pores and skin and sporting tight-fit garments, one thing evidently completely different, based mostly on the documentary, to Ward’s standard type. 

‘Oh, there are my Saudi outfits right here,’ Ward says going by her wardrobe. ‘This may be very Saudi. It appears a bit like an abaya.

‘Long, appropriate, you are not standing out, you are mixing into the group. The blonde hair is a little bit of a giveaway that I’m not from Saudi however you may attempt your greatest.

‘I’ll undoubtedly not be packing these numbers,’ she provides, mentioning some extra revealing garments. ‘They can go firmly again within the wardrobe. I’ve by no means even worn this one however it’s kind of see-through so that will not be going to Saudi.

‘Everyone has been so good to this point, so I simply need to be sure that we respect them again. The tradition is so completely different so I feel it is necessary you are taking the time to study and be respectful.’ 

Ward grew up in Manchester, primarily residing there for over 25 years of her life earlier than making the transfer to Asia.

She revealed that her largest worry in her relationship was having to maneuver location, one thing that is a giant concern for quite a few the WAGs within the sequence.

Mahrez appeared to indicate little consideration, arguing: ‘It’s a part of the sport innit’ in a clip that has now gone viral.

‘I mentioned to Riyad from the start that the factor that scares me most is him transferring overseas. I’ve all the time dwell in Manchester, I’ve by no means needed to transfer away, however my largest worry is having to maneuver to a brand new nation, make new pals and be away from my household.

‘I’ve by no means been so distant from my sister earlier than. I’ve by no means needed to transfer away and nonetheless run a enterprise,’ she says, earlier than breaking down in tears whereas talking to her sister, Darby.

‘If somebody mentioned to me 5 years in the past that I’d be transferring to Saudi Arabia with a husband and a toddler, I would not have believed them,’ she later provides. ‘I might have thought they had been speaking in regards to the incorrect individual.

‘I by no means envisaged my life anyplace apart from Manchester.’