The 35-year-old Al Wasl defender, who played most of his professional career in the English Premier League, suggested there were better moves than the Gulf leagues for aspiring players starting out.

“If you have ambitions to play in Europe, I think it is hard to go from Australia, as an example, to the Middle East and then to Europe because there is an opinion that clubs won’t look this way for talent,” Neill told Sport360°.

“People don’t look here to try and find that pool of talent. And I really think any (young) footballer who has a dream should be trying to push himself to play in Europe.”

His views will make interesting reading for his sidekick in the Socceroos defence Matthew Spiranovic, 24, who controversially signed with Al-Arabi in July this year.

The central defender began his overseas football journey with FC Nuremberg in the Bundesliga in 2006, followed by the J. League’s Urawa Red Diamonds before joining the Aussie influx to the Gulf.

In a frank interview, Neill admitted his decision to move to the United Arab Emirates was at least partially about seeking a less demanding league after 16 years of European football.

“I am not getting any younger and I needed a league that is still challenging but maybe not as demanding,” he said.

“When playing in Europe I was averaging 35-40 games a season and, with the internationals and the travel, it was just too much. It was too demanding to step up every week.

“Sometimes you would be running on empty when you came to the game. Over here I get to push myself as far as I need to during the week and then, as always, you get challenged at the weekend.”

But the Aussie skipper was quick to hose down recent criticism that the national team was weakened by so many Socceroos playing in the Middle East.

“The problem is we have now become victims of our own success,” Neill said. "We pushed the bar up. Everybody has had a taste of the World Cup and now the expectation is we should always be in the World Cup.

“I think you have to experience it [UAE football] to realise how tough it is. The conditions play their part but I think the standard of football can be very good.”