Big interview: Arnaud Djoum reveals pain at watching Hearts struggle despite flourishing in Saudi Arabia

Midfielder can't believe former club is languishing at bottom of league

On a personal level, things could hardly be going more swimmingly for Arnaud Djoum.

The former Hearts midfielder is playing regularly and scoring goals for Al-Raed, who are on course for one of the finest seasons in their history in the lucrative Saudi Arabian Pro League. Off the field, he and his young family have acclimatised to life in boiling Buraydah.

His sense of contentment six months into his stint in the Middle East, however, is diminished only by the remarkable struggles of the team he grew to love and left behind last summer. When he made an emotional exit from Tynecastle after last May’s Scottish Cup final in order to try something new after four enjoyable years in Edinburgh, Djoum expected Hearts to flourish as he watched from afar while Craig Levein embarked on what was widely deemed at the time to have been an encouraging summer recruitment drive. The opening half of the season, however, has been a catastrophe, with Hearts - now under the charge of Daniel Stendel - preparing to resume the campaign after the winter break five points adrift at the foot of the Premiership.

Former Hearts midfielder Arnaud Djoum is enjoying his spell with Al-Raed in Saudi Arabia. Pic: SNS

Djoum, whose four seasons at Tynecastle all ended in the top six, is flabbergasted by how spectacularly things have unraveled at his old club and is praying for news of an upturn in the critical weeks and months ahead. “Hearts are the team of my heart so ever since I left, I have followed everything that has happened,” he said in his first interview with the Evening News since departing the Capital last summer. “I don’t get to see every single game but after each game I always call Clevid (Dikamona) to ask him how it went. Unfortunately the results have not been coming at the moment. I am surprised that they are in such a bad way - it’s bizarre!

“If you look at the individual players they have, there is a lot of experience and quality. They have had bad luck with injuries - we have been talking about that for a long time! - but it’s a big squad with a lot of good players who can do the job. Any team can have a bad season but for Hearts to be last is something different altogether.

“I didn’t expect that they would struggle like this because Hearts are a big club in Scotland with high standards, good players and great facilities. I spent four years there so I know how it is and I am really disappointed that they are last. I really hope it proves just to be a bad moment - a bad first half to the season - and that the boys can change their mindset in the second half of the season and save the club.”

Djoum has no such concerns at his current club, who are currently just four points off the top of the Saudi Pro League at the half-way stage. “Things are going well at the moment,” he said. “We are fourth in the league which is really good for Raed. At the start of the season, the aim was to be in the top six. This club has never won the league or anything like that. It is usually between eighth and 12th so we are doing really great at the moment and are higher than expected. If we finish in the top six, it will be a great season for us. Personally as well, I am feeling good. I am playing regularly and scoring goals. I have no regrets about coming here. I’m enjoying it and I’m happy to be here.”

Djoum’s most recent match - a 1-0 win away to Al-Faisaly on Saturday - pitted him against former Hearts colleague Igor Rossi, who left Tynecastle to move to the Middle East three years ago. “I spoke to Igor before the game, during the game and after the game,” Djoum laughed. “He’s also here with his family and he’s happy. Before I signed here, I spoke to him to ask about the league and the lifestyle and he had only positive things to say about it. He is a good guy and I trust his views. It’s always easier when there is someone in the league you know who can help you. When I first came, I needed a bit of time to adapt because it’s totally different to Scottish football.

“The main difference is the intensity. A lot of the time you are playing in 35-40 degree heat so it is almost impossible to play with intensity. I found the heat hard to cope with at first after coming from Scotland where it is usually 5-10 degrees. The intensity is the big difference but the quality is a lot better than I expected. I was hearing from some people that the league is easy and stuff like that but it’s not easy. Obviously when you come here you know the financial side of it will be good but you don’t know what the football will be like but I have been pleasantly surprised because the quality is not bad at all.”

Life in Saudi Arabia has also taken some time to adapt to for the 30-year-old, who is contracted to Al-Raed for another 18 months. “I’m lucky that my family came here with me which has made it easier,” said Djoum. “If you come alone, I don’t think it would be so easy. It’s very different to Scotland because we live in a compound, which is like a camp for all the foreigners. When you are there, you can live however you want but when you go out of the compound you have to follow the Saudi rules - for example, my wife has to wear the burka. The compound has everything I need to play my football so it’s fine. It’s hard to say how long I will be here because you never know in football but I would like to complete the two years of my contract and then after that see how I feel and what I want to do and what is best for my family.”