The ongoing summer transfer window has seen plenty of players move to Saudi Arabia from Europe, suprising fans to a huge extent. It all began with Cristiano Ronaldo’s move to Al Nassr in the Saudi Pro League after the 2022 FIFA World Cup. Now in the ongoing window, the likes of N’Golo Kante, Riyad Mahrez, Karim Benzema, Roberto Firmino have moved to Saudi Arabia.
Currently, Saudi Pro League clubs have spent more money than many leading European sides in the ongoing window. The league has reportedly spent around 420 million euros (according to transfermarkt.com). This week, Al Nassr signed Bayern Munich’s Sadio Mane for a reported 30 million euros transfer fee. Meanwhile, former Liverpool captain has been signed by Al Ettifaq for 14 million euros.
Speaking via OLGB, Manchester United legend Dwight Yorke criticised the transfers to Saudi Arabia, and attributed it to the age of players. “The age of the Saudi Pro League is not good enough to be in the Champions League. The players who have joined that league, such as Cristiano Ronaldo, N’Golo Kante and Karim Benzema, they were all in Europe when they were in their prime, they’ve gone to the Saudi Arabian league now they’re in their mid-thirties,” he said.
“Everyone knows when you reach that age, you’re on the last legs of your footballing career. Those big names resonate well with European football, but that’s only because they were in their prime in Europe, they’ve gone to the Saudi league because they’re older now, so I don’t think they have the right to play in the Champions League yet,” he further added.
It is also being reported that clubs from the Saudi Pro League are also eyeing Manchester City’s Kevin De Bruyne and Liverpool forward Mo Salah. Recently, Fulham’s Marco Silva turned down a reported 40 million pounds two-year contract, to take charge of Al Ahli. Also, Saudi clubs have an advantage as their transfer window closes on September 20th, 19 days after Premier League’s deadline. So, we could see more players, especially from England, coming to the Saudi Pro League.
