• Hausa Edition
  • Podcast
  • Conferences
  • LeVogue Magazine
  • Business News
  • Print Advert Rates
  • Online Advert Rates
  • Contact Us
Sunday, June 8, 2025
Leadership Newspapers
Read in Hausa
  • Home
  • News
  • Politics
  • Business
  • Sport
  • Health
  • Entertainment
  • Opinion
    • Editorial
  • Columns
  • Football
  • Others
    • LeVogue Magazine
    • Conferences
    • National Economy
  • Contact Us
No Result
View All Result
  • Home
  • News
  • Politics
  • Business
  • Sport
  • Health
  • Entertainment
  • Opinion
    • Editorial
  • Columns
  • Football
  • Others
    • LeVogue Magazine
    • Conferences
    • National Economy
  • Contact Us
No Result
View All Result
Leadership Newspapers
No Result
View All Result

Saudi Pro League: A New Destination For Europe’s Best Players?

by Agency Report
2 years ago
in Sport
Saudi Pro League
Share on WhatsAppShare on FacebookShare on XTelegram

Links of Kylian Mbappe to Real Madrid, and rumours of Neymar returning to Barcelona, have been the commonalities of the transfer market over the past few years.

Advertisement

This summer, however, in addition to the aforementioned developments, the emergence of one major entity – the Saudi Pro League – has taken the transfer market by storm.

The stage was set late last year, though, after an unprecedented deal worth $200m-per-year saw one of the biggest names in football, Cristiano Ronaldo, move to Al Nassr in Saudi Arabia from English giant Manchester United in the January 2023 transfer window.

His former teammate in Real Madrid and the reigning Ballon d’Or winner, Karim Benzema, set tongues wagging with his move for free from the 14-time Champions League winners to Al Ittihad – one of four clubs alongside Al Hilal, Al Ahli, and Al Nassr owned by Saudi Arabia’s Public Investment Fund.

German champions, Bayern Munich, saw Sadio Mane joining Ronaldo at Al Nassr, Riyad Mahrez went to Al Ahli just after helping Manchester City to an era-defining continental treble.

RELATED

Miami Open: Gauff Advance To 4th Round, Eyes Title

Tennis: Gauff Beats Sabalenka To Win French Open Title

8 hours ago
Football Fans Laud Osimhen’s Move To Galatasaray

Osimhen Accepts Al Hilal Offer, Agrees Personal Terms With Saudi Club

13 hours ago

Meanwhile, N’Golo Kante, Ruben Neves, Edouard Mendy, and Kalidou Koulibaly, have all been just a part of the major influx of players from Europe to Saudi Arabia.

Such big names being lured out of a continent that has ruled the sport for ages was bound to strike a nerve; and it did. Liverpool manager, Jurgen Klopp, thought the fact that the Saudi transfer window closes on September 20, three weeks after it was shut in Europe, would have a “detrimental effect” on the sport.

Meanwhile, according to City manager, Pep Guardiola, the Saudi league has “completely changed the market” while Klopp admitted it is something that the European managers now “need to deal with”.

With the Saudi league creating more adversaries than cohorts, the most scathing judgment on the league was probably passed by Barcelona president, Joan Laporta, who saw one of his summer targets, Marcelo Brozovic, choose Al Nassr over a move to the Spanish club. According to Laporta, the gold rush to the oil-rich Gulf state has “no sporting reasons”, hinting at unmatchable, and at times outrageous, deals offered by the Saudi clubs being the sole motivator for players.

Even though the Saudi league has reportedly failed in their attempts to get seven-time Ballon d’Or winner, Lionel Messi, and 24-year-old Mbappe, who has already let PSG know of his willingness to switch, a suggestion that the league offers no sporting reasons to players is arguably harsh.

While Ronaldo left for the Saudi league at 37 with the best parts of his glittering career in the rear-view mirror, it remains hard to consider someone as professional as the Portuguese would choose to jump ship only due to financial incentives – especially since lack of a promising sporting plan and infrastructure had somewhat contributed to Ronaldo’s decision in cutting ties with Manchester United despite having been their previous season’s best player.

It is true that other than Ronaldo’s countryman Neves, 26, most players that moved to Saudi are in their thirties. But that still does not mean that the likes of Kante, Benzema, Mahrez, Mane, Roberto Firmino, Mendy, and Allex Telles are done making claims for their respective national teams. On the contrary, most are mainstays in their national sides – a fact that only shows that the Saudi league is far from being a retirement destination for players.

Also, Al Nassr refusing to go ahead with a deal for Chelsea star, Hakim Ziyech, following a reported knee injury implies that the Saudi project is not just about raking up the big names in football but one that prioritises a long-term vision – unlike the case of the Chinese Super League, another Asian league that had injected serious cash to be a footballing force in the last decade but failed to see their vision through.

What the Saudi league is yet to do is convince more players in their mid-20s – the period when footballers are primed to leave their marks on the global stage – move to the Middle Eastern nation and still maintain their status quo as one of the top talents around the globe.

As things stand, the big spenders in Europe and the producers of footballing prospects around the globe are now well-aware of another major player in the soccer market who could lure away their assets and targets. And it is probably going to stay for a while, relentlessly pushing to make Ronaldo’s prophecy of the Saudi Pro League becoming “one of the top five leagues in the world”.


We’ve got the edge. Get real-time reports, breaking scoops, and exclusive angles delivered straight to your phone. Don’t settle for stale news. Join LEADERSHIP NEWS on WhatsApp for 24/7 updates →

Join Our WhatsApp Channel

START EARNING US DOLLARS as a Nigerian ($35,000) monthly. Companies are sacking their workers due to AI (artificial intelligence), business owners are in panic mode. Only the smart will make it. Click here


Tags: Saudi Pro League
SendShareTweetShare
Previous Post

SDGs: CSOs Seek Overhaul Of Office, Appointment Of New Presidential Aide  

Next Post

FIFA WWC: Australia Beat France On Penalties To Reach Semi-finals  

Agency Report

Agency Report

You May Like

Miami Open: Gauff Advance To 4th Round, Eyes Title
Tennis

Tennis: Gauff Beats Sabalenka To Win French Open Title

2025/06/07
Football Fans Laud Osimhen’s Move To Galatasaray
Football

Osimhen Accepts Al Hilal Offer, Agrees Personal Terms With Saudi Club

2025/06/07
Pacquiao, PL India, Others Celebrate Ronaldo At 39
Sport

Ronaldo Turns Down Offers To Play At Club World Cup

2025/06/07
Transfer: 3 Premier League Clubs Battle For Super Eagles’ Star, Uche
Football

Transfer: 3 Premier League Clubs Battle For Super Eagles’ Star, Uche

2025/06/07
Benue SWAN Elects First Female Chairman
Sport

FCT SWAN Felicitates With Members At Eid-el-Kabir

2025/06/07
Emir Of Bauchi Urges Support For Needy
Sport

Emir Of Bauchi Urges Support For Needy

2025/06/07
Leadership Conference advertisement

LATEST

Tinubu’s Wife Empowers 400 Enugu Farmers

Fuel Subsidy: How Nigeria Spent N16.5trn In 25 Years – Ex-EFCC Boss, Bawa

Expert Calls For Urgent Action On Neonatal Jaundice In Nigeria

Fuel Subsidy Removal Saved Nigeria From Bankruptcy – NOA

Netizens React To Nigerian Prophet’s ‘Healing’ Of Dumb, Paralysed Man After 36 Years In US

Gov Zulum Donates N100m To Wounded Soldiers, Families Of Slain Troops

LP Mourns Late CJN Uwais, Seeks Implementation Of Report On Electoral Reforms

Tennis: Gauff Beats Sabalenka To Win French Open Title

‘I Never Begged Wike For Money’, TV Anchor Reuben Abati Refutes FCT Minister’s Aide’s Claims

Singer Darey Art Alade, Wife Escape Unhurt After Their Car Catches Fire On 3rd Mainland Bridge

© 2025 Leadership Media Group - All Rights Reserved.

No Result
View All Result
  • Home
  • News
  • Politics
  • Business
  • Sport
  • Health
  • Entertainment
  • Opinion
    • Editorial
  • Columns
  • Football
  • Others
    • LeVogue Magazine
    • Conferences
    • National Economy
  • Contact Us

© 2025 Leadership Media Group - All Rights Reserved.