Every summer there tends to be a disruptive force in football’s ecosystem where the transfer market continues to see growth through a club’s willingness to spend.
While Barcelona, still affected by financial problems exacerbated by the pandemic, have not been able to be the team to strengthen others in the market, and with Real Madrid, despite their signing of Jude Bellingham, not able to be the financial force they were, there have been others to try to fill this void.
In previous seasons, it has been Manchester City, Paris Saint-Germain and, last summer, Chelsea, who have driven the value of players through higher and higher spending. In the case of Chelsea in the summer 2022 and January 2023 windows, it had a major impact on the market due to the scale of the money spent, with the club shelling out more than £600 million on new additions and offering long contracts of up to nine years to spread the amortized annual costs, a move that forced UEFA to respond with new, non-aligned regulations this summer.
This summer, however, has been the summer of the Saudis.
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Saudi Arabia has for some time sought to increase its global influence and diversify its sources of income through sports, predominantly football. The takeover of Newcastle United in 2021 by the Saudi Arabian Public Investment Fund (PIF) was mired in controversy due to the fact that a nation state had acquired a football club, one that had a long history of human rights abuses.
Earlier this year it was announced that PIF had bought the four biggest teams in Saudi; Al-Nassr, Al-Ittihad, Al-Ahli and Al-Hilal. The idea behind the purchases was to support the clubs to grow into much larger organizations that could be sustainable large businesses. However, to support this effort, a huge amount of money has been poured into the Saudi Pro League and the big four clubs to attract top talent and the eyes, ears and interest of football fans around the world.
The likes of Karim Benzema, N’Golo Kante, Sergej Milinkovic-Savic and Liverpool hero Roberto Firmino have already arrived at Saudi clubs, while another Liverpool legend, Steven Gerrard, has taken over the managerial reins at SPL side Al-Ettifaq, a club owned by the Saudi Ministry of Sports.
Liverpool had been humming along quite nicely after the arrival of Alexis Mac Allister and Dominik Szoboszlai rebuilt the midfield to a strong start. But in the past fortnight, Jurgen Klopp’s plans have been hit with a screwdriver as captain Jordan Henderson and defensive midfielder Fabinho have both received offers from Saudi Arabian sides, with another midfield star, Thiago Alcantara, also reportedly being courted.
The futures of Henderson and Fabinho remain unclear, but with bids of £12m and £40m respectively having been submitted, with the former accepted by the Reds, the duo’s exits from Anfield look ever closer.
Saudi Arabia wants to grow the SPL to become one of the biggest leagues in the world, with former Real Madrid and Manchester United hero Cristiano Ronaldo, now at Al-Nassr, believing the league can overtake the likes of Turkey and the Netherlands in the next year to start challenging the dominance of the major European leagues.
Ronaldo stopped short of claiming it would overhaul the Premier League, but in terms of disrupting European football, it is important. Should the league continue to attract quality and see interest grow, then without UEFA’s Financial Fair Play rules to adhere to, and with enormous wealth at its disposal, Premier League clubs may find it even harder to find value in the market, with transfer fees and wages set to rise further.
Speaking to assembled media after Al-Nassr’s 5-0 pre-season loss to Spanish side Celta Vigo, Ronaldo said: “European football has lost a lot of quality. The only valid one still doing well is the Premier League. They are way ahead of all the other leagues.”
Team owners across the major European leagues are well aware of the challenges the rise in the SPL can create, but for the Premier League, the extent of the impact will not be seen for some time, according to Arsenal CEO Vinai Venkatesham.
Speaking to Bloomberg Surveillance during Arsenal’s pre-season tour of the US, Venkatesham said: “One big change that everyone has been talking about this summer has been the number of players that have been transferred to Saudi.
“It’s another interesting development in the game. It’s new, it’s a bit too early to know how it will affect the Premier League, if at all, and we’ll be watching with interest.”