Various themes of progression have come forward in our five years in the Gulf. More people, more towers, more traffic, more sophistication …

And more elite soccer players.

The Arabian Gulf League, or Pro League, as it was known for four seasons, has seen a steady climb in the number of good players choosing to play in the UAE.

The latest might be the greatest — Everton Ribeiro, named the best player in Brazil the past two years for his contributions in Cruzeiro winning consecutive championships.

What makes Everton Ribeiro’s signing special?

–Brazil’s best players generally go to Europe. Spain, England, Portugal, Germany. Clubs in several of those countries were interested in recruiting Everton Ribeiro, including Manchester United and AC Milan, he said yesterday. However, he went to Al Ahli, a club based in Dubai, the biggest city in the UAE.

–He has moved to the UAE at age 25, which would suggest he may not even be at his peak as a player.

The Arabian Gulf League has had some good foreign players since the league turned professional, in 2008-09. But they tended to be guys on the back sides of career trajectories. Two good examples: Grafite, Bundesliga player of the year for Wolfsburg when they won the German championship, in 2008-09; and Ricardo Oliveira, who saw lots of action with clubs in Spain and Italy.

Grafite was 32 when he arrived. He did very well for three seasons, and helped Ahli win a championship last year, but then seemed to hit a wall this season, during which he will turn 36. Ahli dropped him and he now is with the Qatari side Al Sadd.

Oliveira was 29 when he joined Al Jazira, a year before Grafite arrived in Dubai, and he was very good for four seasons. He was a key performer in Jazira’s first (and still only) league title, in 2011, but his form fell off significantly last season, and Jazira sold him on to Al Wasl, and now Oliveira, 35 in May, is back in Brazil, with Santos.

Everton Ribeiro will have his fade-out phase, too, but it may be most a decade away.

One of our England-based correspondents described Ahli’s capture of Everton Ribeiro as a coup for the UAE club.

A member of our staff did a comment piece on how Everton Ribeiro may be the biggest signing in the country’s history, given that he is in his prime and that prominent European sides apparently wanted him.

Why would a Brazilian player come here? Beyond what has been reported as a 4.5-year deal for more than $10 million?

Several of the South American players who have joined the league mention the personal safety soccer players have in this country. More than a few of them, doing well in their home continent, feel that their incomes make them targets for criminals in societies not as well-ordered as this one.

Or maybe Everton Ribeiro likes playing in extreme heat.

It’s quite nice, now, but we may have to check back with him in May, to see how he is adjusting.

For the moment, everyone is happy, and the UAE’s league just got a little stronger — and more prominent.