Former Hibs hero Martin Boyle 's future in Saudi Arabia is in doubt after his Al-Faisaly side were relegated from the top division in a nightmare end to the season.
The Australia international moved from Easter Road in a £2.5 million deal in January after 14 goals in the first half of the season including a stunning hat-trick against Rangers in the League Cup semi-final. Hibs fell apart last season after his departure, but they included a buy-back clause in his contract when he left Leith and Boyle stated he would be keen to come back to Hibs eventually. He stated: "Hopefully, in the future I can return one day and repay them once again. It's a new adventure for me. I'm certainly looking forward to it. But I'm hoping that if I do come back I've still got a lot to give."
But just a couple of weeks after Boyle celebrated helping Australia to the World Cup Finals in Qatar later this year, he went from the highs of that play-off win over Peru to the low of relegation with his club, after just 13 league games for Al-Faisaly. It was the first time in 12 years Al-Faisaly have been relegated and they went down after just one win in their last ten games of the Saudi Pro League.
They had to get at least a point to survive on the final day of the season, but they lost 2-1 to Al-Hilal - former Watford and Manchester United striker Odion Ighalo scored twice which won the title with the victory. Boyle was even subbed off by manager Marinos Ouzounidis despite Al-Faisaly desperately needing a point to stay up.
And they were agonisingly relegated because of their head-to-head record against Al-Batin, despite them having a better goal difference. Boyle now faces the ignominy of playing his football in the second tier, Saudi First Division League - a 20-team league that starts in September and has three teams promoted.
However, the 29-year-old will at least have the consolation of playing in the Asian Champions League knockout stages. His team have reached the Last 16 and face Iranian club Foolad in February.
