Saudi Arabia’s growing influence in football has been evident this summer with a whole host of high-profile players making lucrative moves from Europe to play in the Middle East.
Cristiano Ronaldo’s decision to join Al-Nassr from Manchester United last winter has seemingly opened the floodgates for other stars to sign on the dotted line at Saudi Pro League clubs.
Karim Benzema, Ronaldo’s former strike partner at Real Madrid and the current Ballon d’Or holder, has joined last season’s champions Al-Ittihad, where he will link up with French international team-mate N’Golo Kante.
While Ronaldo, Benzema and Kante are all entering the twilight years of their careers, the same cannot be said of all those who have gone to Saudi Arabia. Ruben Neves has swapped the Premier League for the Pro League at the age of 26, while Sergej Milinkovic-Savic and Seko Fofana have turned their back on the Champions League after leaving Lazio and RC Lens respectively.
It isn’t just players that are being sought after but managers too.
Fulham manager Marco Silva was strongly linked with Al-Hilal, but has rejected a £17m per year offer in order to remain in the Premier League, as reported exclusively by i.
However, Steven Gerrard has joined Al-Ettifaq, nine months after being sacked by Aston Villa. He has been joined, in a rather controversial fashion, by former Liverpool captain Jordan Henderson who previously aligned himself to LGBT+ charities in England.
More established names are expected to join Saudi clubs between now and the end of the transfer window on 1 September, with the country’s Public Investment Fund (PIF) expanding further into the sport.
PIF, which has had an 80 per cent controlling stake in Newcastle United since November 2021, took control of four of the country’s biggest clubs – Al-Nassr, Al-Ittihad, Al-Hilal and Al-Ahli – in June.
The hope in Saudi Arabia is that in time their domestic league will possess the technical quality and broadcasting appeal to rival that of the “Top Five” European leagues while also boosting the country’s bid for the 2030 World Cup.
Here is the complete list of European or Europe-based players to join Saudi Pro Leagues this summer:
Abha
Players in: None
Al-Ahli
— Al-Ahli Saudi Club (@ALAHLI_FCEN) July 4, 2023
| Bobby is here!
#WelcomeFirmino pic.twitter.com/b9uAU3cDas
Players in: Riyad Mahrez (£30m from Man City), Edouard Mendy (£16m from Chelsea), Roberto Firmino (free from Liverpool)
Al-Ettifaq
Players in: Jordan Henderson (£12m from Liverpool), Jack Hendry (£6.5m from Club Brugge), Moussa Dembele (free from Lyon)
Al-Fateh
Players in: Jason Denayer (free from Shabab Al-Ahli)
Al-Fayha
Players in: Gojko Cimirot (free from Standard Liege)
Al-Hazem
Players in: Faiz Selemani (£1m from KV Kortrijk)
Al-Hilal
Players in: Malcom (£51m from Zenit St Petersburg), Ruben Neves (£47m from Wolves), Kalidou Koulibaly (£20m from Chelsea), Sergej Milinkovic-Savic (£34m from Lazio)
— AlHilal Saudi Club (@Alhilal_EN) June 23, 2023
𝗪𝗲𝗹𝗰𝗼𝗺𝗲 𝗥𝗼𝗹𝗹𝘀 𝗥𝘂𝗯𝗲𝗻
#AlHilal
@rubendsneves_ pic.twitter.com/ml2osTPQj8
Al-Ittihad
Players in: Karim Benzema (free from Real Madrid), N’Golo Kante (free from Chelsea), Jota (£25m from Celtic)
Al-Khaleej
Players in: Pedro Rebocho (free from Lech Poznan), Ivo Rodrigues (free from Famalicao)
Al-Nassr
Players in: Seko Fofana (£22m from RC Lens), Marcelo Brozovic (£15.5m from Inter Milan), Alex Telles (undisclosed from Man Utd)
Al-Okhdood
Players in: Paulo Vitor (free from Chaves), Andrei Burca (£860,000 from CFR Cluj), Solomon Kverkvelia (free from Neftchi Baku)
Al-Raed
Players in: None
— Ittihad Club (@ittihad_en) June 20, 2023
#WelcomeBox2Box pic.twitter.com/a5Kd7KoGJM
Al-Riyadh
Players in: Birama Toure (free from Auxerre), Alin Tosca (free from Benevento)
Al-Shabab
Players in: None
Al-Taawoun
Players in: Flavio (on loan from Fenerbahce)
Al-Tai
Players in: Robert Bauer (free from Sint-Truiden), Bernard Mensah (free from Kayserispor), Virgil Misidjan (free from FC Twente)
Al-Wehda
Players in: None
Damac
Players in: None
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