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Neymar joined Saudi Pro League side Al Hilal

Saudi Pro League transfers changing world football’s landscape

By Andy PymontPosted on Posted in Premier League, Saudi Pro League, Transfers

The summer transfer window in 2023 saw several long-running stories familiar to football fans continue. Chelsea continued to spend heavily on young talent on long-term contracts. Manchester United signed a new striker in the hope of challenging their noisy neighbours for the league title. And the Premier League in general continued to dominate world transfers, far outspending every other league. However, we also saw a major new story start to develop. Saudi Pro League transfers began to make some waves early in the window. By its end, they had become one of the summer’s major stories.

Cristiano Ronaldo’s transfer to Al-Nassr in January was a clue as to what was coming. Ronaldo was the lone star name in the Pro League last season, but that has changed. Players including Neymar, Karim Benzema, Sadio Mané, Riyad Mahrez, and Rúben Neves have all signed with Pro League sides.

Saudi Pro League Transfers: How do they stack up?

In total, the Saudi Pro League sides spent $875 million this summer. Whilst this remains some way short of England’s world-leading $1.98 billion, it represents a major change to the football landscape.

The competitive and financial strength of leagues usually changes over a number of years. A country suddenly leaping to second in FIFA’s International Transfer Snapshot is unprecedented. This paints a picture of a major change taking place in world football.

Top-spending countries in football transfers, summer 2023

How can Pro League clubs afford it?

The move to create this transfer landscape came on 5th June. Saudi Arabia’s Public Investment Fund purchased four of the country’s leading clubs.

PIF has an estimated net worth of $776 billion. It can easily afford even the astronomical figures involved in these transfers. The aim is to quickly raise the standard of the country’s league. This will allow for greater TV deals and commercial opportunities in the future. That in turn will make the league sustainable in the longer-term.

Saudi Arabia’s PIF is actually only the world’s sixth-largest sovereign wealth fund. However, its cultural influence far exceeds a few of the larger funds.

PIF has been making big waves in many sports including Formula 1 and tennis. They purchased Newcastle United nearly two years ago. Most significantly, their LIV Golf organisation announced a huge merger with the PGA Tour.

The headline-making investments also extend far outside of sport. PIF owns substantial stakes in major corporations such as Uber, Disney, Facebook, and Starbucks. This is part of a strategy of diversification for the country. Creating long-term revenue streams and assets will ensure the country is not as dependent on oil in the long term.

Sportswashing Accusations

There has been extensive criticism of these cultural and especially sport investments. Owning these assets has given the country extensive influence and soft power. This allows them to potentially “sportswash” their record. That is, the positive news from transforming sporting institutions could drown out or distract from other, more important headlines.

Amnesty International have rightly used PIF’s big sporting investments to highlight their record on important issues. Amnesty International and other groups campaign to keep awareness high on important issues and abuses of power.

These criticisms do need to be heard. Having a good football league and famous players shouldn’t allow any country to erase or distract from its issues. That goes whether we’re talking about Saudi Arabia or indeed the United Kingdom.

Will Saudi Pro League transfers continue at this level?

This summer won’t be the last for this amazing level of spending by Saudi clubs. It has been reported that £17 billion has been allocated for further transfers between now and 2030:

Despite all the amazing deals they did complete, Pro League clubs also missed out on a few targets. High-profile pursuits of Kylian Mbappé and Mohamed Salah weren’t successful. Mbappé seems destined to move to Real Madrid next summer. However, don’t be surprised to see Salah make the move to the Pro League in the summer of 2024. A £100m transfer fee would be a fantastic return for Liverpool. I can see them accepting such a deal next year, provided it comes early in the window. That will give them time to make good plans for the 2024/25 season.

Is the Pro League a threat to European football?

It’s remarkable that Pro League transfers so quickly exceed those of major European countries. Spending more than German and Spanish clubs is a big deal. As we’ve established the Pro League plans for this to continue. If it does, it will represent a huge change to football’s status quo.

In recent weeks, big figures in European football have been asked about the threat posed by the Pro League. UEFA President Aleksander Ceferin was quick to dismiss the threat and likened it to the Chinese Super League. That league of course made a splash around a decade ago but has since become less relevant. European Club Association chairman Nasser Al-Khelaifi was similarly bullish, insisting European football remains more prestigious and has nothing to fear.

I think there is some naivety to the responses from Ceferin and Al-Khelaifi. The Chinese Super League did not explode into prominence in this manner. It was not signing players who still had a lot to offer at the top level in Europe. The Saudi Arabian Pro League is doing that, signing the likes of Rúben Neves, Allan Saint-Maximin, and Riyad Mahrez. The budget for future season is just as bold as we’ve already highlighted.

Only the English Premier League can compete with this level of spending. This could be a major change to world football. In many ways it mirrors the Premier League’s own prominence in recent years. We’ve seen midtable English teams able to outspend the champions of other European countries. Now Saudi Arabian Pro League clubs expect to do the same.

What will this mean for the world game?

Saudi Arabia is much better-positioned geographically and thus from a timezone perspective to sell televised games into the Asian market. I think a lot of fans in that market are interested in watching the best players. They don’t mind if they’re playing for Barcelona or for Al Hilal, for Manchester United or Al Ahli. I expect the Saudi Pro League will soon start to make some major TV deals in Asian markets. This will only help the league become both more visible, and in the long-term more financially sustainable.

In many respects this could be good for Asian football. The standard of players in the Asian Champions League will rise. That competition could become more prominent, instead of lagging behind the UEFA Champions League and Copa Libertadores.

The sums of money being thrown around are uncomfortable, unreasonable, and disruptive. It could take a few years for this to play out. I think we will see European clubs become more worried than they are – at least outwardly – at present. But I don’t think European clubs can reasonably complain. In many respects what we’re seeing is Saudi Pro League doing to European teams what they have been doing to Asia and South America, and indeed to each other, for a long time.

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