Sports

Transfer: Top Players Who Moved To Saudi Arabia This Summer

Published

2 years ago

September 8, 2023

Editor

The 2023 summer transfer window in the Saudi Pro League closed on Thursday, with many players moving from top European clubs and leagues to the Middle East.

The signing of Manchester United and Real Madrid legend Cristiano Ronaldo could be said to be the statement signing that ‘inspired’ other players to move to Saudi Arabia. Ronaldo joined Al Nassr in January after leaving Manchester United for the second time.

In June, the Saudi Public Investment Fund (PIF) announced it would control 75 percent of four teams in the league: Al Nassr, Al Ahli, Al Ittihad, and Al Hilal, with a non-profit organization controlling 25 percent.

The takeover by the PIF, which owns an 80 percent stake in Newcastle, proved successful, and players like Karim Benzema and Ngolo Kante became the first high-profile players to join the league.

According to reports, Saudi League clubs spent over €850 million on transfers this summer.

Here is a list of some top players who joined the Saudi Pro League (in no particular order).

Neymar Jnr

Neymar became the world’s most expensive footballer when he joined Paris Saint Germain from Barcelona in 2017 for £200 million. After six seasons at the club, Neymar was set for a return to Barcelona, but the deal fell through.

On August 15, Neymar completed a move to Al Hilal from PSG in an £80 million deal and signed a two-year contract.

Karim Benzema

French forward, Karim Benzema was among the high-profile players that joined the league at the start of the transfer window.

Although he initially denied reports linking him with a move away from the Bernabeu, the 35-year-old joined Al Ittihad in June.

“I had a dream in my head—to sign for Madrid and to end up at Madrid, but sometimes there are other opportunities,” Benzema said after his move.

N’golo Kante

N’golo Kante completed a move to Al-Ittihad after he recovered from an injury-laden season with Chelsea. Upon his return to the Blues late into the 2022–2023 season, Kante could not replicate his ‘usually’ superb form and couldn’t help the team from a 12th-place finish in the league. He will reportedly earn around €100 million at the club.

Riyadh Mahrez

Mahrez was part of the Manchester City squad that won the treble last season, including the Champions League for the first time in the club’s history.

The Algerian international was also part of the Leicester City side that won the Premier League in 2015. Mahrez joined Al-Ahli for a fee of £30 million and will earn £45 million per year.

Sadio Mane

Sadio Mane endured a disappointing campaign towards the end of his Bayern Munchen stint as he had a rift with the team’s management and was immediately touted to be evicted from the team. Mane opted to accept a deal from Saudi Arabian outfit Al-Nassr and joins veteran Cristiano Ronaldo in the club.

Roberto Firmino

Another former Liverpool striker, Roberto Firmino, joined Al-Ahli for free after being on the bench for a greater part of his last season at the club. Firmino will earn £326,000 per week at Al-Ahli.

Eduardo Mendy

Mendy fell off the pecking order at Chelsea when Graham Potter took over the reins at Stamford Bridge. The Senegalese goalkeeper had to watch from the bench as Kepa Arizzabalaga reclaimed his place between the sticks. Mendy joined Al-Ahli in June.

Jordan Henderson

Jordan Henderson formed a part of the Liverpool exodus that moved to the Saudi League. The former Liverpool captain will play under former Liverpool player, Steven Gerrard at El-Ettiqaf.

Ruben Neves

Neves raised a lot of eyebrows when he moved to the league, rejecting offers from Barcelona and a few English clubs.

The Portuguese completed a €55 million move from Wolverhampton Wanderers to join Al Hilal and will reportedly earn about £300,000 per week at the club.

Kalidou Koulibaly

The Senegalese star was among the first set of players signed by Todd Boehly at Chelsea. After one season at the club, the 30-year-old completed a move to Al Hilal.

Others are Marcelo Brozovic (Al Nassr), Sergej Milinkovic-Savic (Al Hilal), Alex Telles (Al Nassr), Moussa Dembele (Al Ettifaq), Aymeric Laporte (Al Nassr), and Georginio Wijnaldum (Al Ettifaq).

Sports

NFF In Fresh N1.4b FIFA Women World Cup Scandal

Published

3 hours ago

November 28, 2025

Editor

Former Super Falcons head coach, Randy Waldrum, has questioned the Nigeria Football Federation’s (NFF) management of the monies that the world football governing body, FIFA, gave the federation for the team’s preparation for the 2023 Women’s World Cup in Australia and New Zealand, reports allnigeriasoccer.com.

Waldrum’s team was eliminated from the championship in the second round by England through a penalty shootout. But the American alleged in a viral video on X that his team was handicapped by the NFF’s failure to make available the fund needed to properly prepare the side for the championship.

He alleged that the NFF received $960,000 from FIFA in October 2022 to support the Super Falcons’ preparations for the tournament.

He said: “I have a real close contact here in the US that is very connected with some of the board at FIFA. This person told me that in October, every country was given $960k from FIFA to prepare for the World, where is that money.

“If Nigeria got that money why didn’t we have a camp in November? We went to Japan, we flew in and played the game and went home. Some of our players didn’t arrive until the morning before the game, I think five players who were going to start for me, arrived the night before the game and the game was 4:00pm and they traveled 16 hours on the plane. And we played Japan and then we went home. We wasted the last five days of that window to train.”

Waldrum, who affirmed that FIFA provides financial support to federations that are unable to afford business-class travel, with deductions made from their World Cup earnings.

According to him, the NFF had no justification for suboptimal logistics. “So, all these questions I have is where is this money? And the other thing I found out through my FIFA connections is that if countries don’t have the money to buy business class tickets for everybody, FIFA will fund the money and buy those tickets and just deduct it from the monies you get from FIFA after the World Cup.

“So there’s no excuse to say we didn’t have money to buy tickets and then we didn’t have camps. These are the kinds of things that the people of Nigeria don’t question. In the US, they would be questioned. If the US Soccer Federation was doing the same things, the US Soccer Federation would have to answer to it.”

The coach also faulted the NFF for failing to maximise FIFA-approved staffing provisions, noting that while FIFA allows up to 22 technical staff members, Nigeria travelled with only about 11.

“So if FIFA will pay bonuses for up to 22 people, why didn’t we have 22 people? I didn’t have an analyst and I scout. Listen, the US has a scout in Europe, watching teams play in these exhibitions, in case they face them at the World Cup,” he explained.

“We didn’t even have scouts going with us to Australia. I didn’t even have anybody to scout games. If we got out of our group, I didn’t even have anybody to scout games in other groups. Everything I had to do was on videos and what I could pick up online.”

Sports

EPL: Berbatov Names Team That Can ‘Surprise’ Arsenal In Title Race

Published

3 days ago

November 25, 2025

Editor

Former Manchester United striker, Dimitar Berbatov, has named the team that could “surprise” Arsenal in the Premier League title race.

The Gunners are now six points clear of second-placed Chelsea, thanks to their 4-1 demolition of Tottenham on Sunday.

Mikel Arteta’s men could extend that lead to nine points, when they travel to face the Blues this weekend.

Berbatov has now said he expects Arsenal to be “really tested” over the hectic festive period and says their title credentials will become clearer in the New Year.

“Of course Liverpool are low in the table and Man City are dropping points, but there are other teams like Chelsea who can surprise people,” Berbatov told ESPN.

“Six points is a good cushion but in the Premier League it’s nothing and can go very quickly.”

Sports

Champions League: Arteta Gives Arsenal Injury Updates Ahead Bayern Munich Clash

Published

3 days ago

November 25, 2025

Editor

Arsenal manager, Mikel Arteta, has given injury updates on his squad ahead of Wednesday night’s Champions League clash with Bayern Munich.

The Gunners have won their first four matches in the competition without conceding a single goal.

Arteta’s men will be looking to continue their perfect start with a win over Bayern at the Emirates.

Arsenal could have captain Martin Odegaard back for the game, alongside Gabriel Martinelli and Noni Madueke.

“Yeah they are [Madueke and Martinelli in contenton to start] and we’re going to have a meeting now to decide on Martin [Odegaard],” Arteta told reporters today.

“He was very close for the previous game.

“We are confident he can be in the squad as well.”