The summer transfer window this year witnessed a record-breaking amount of spending by a non-European league, with the Public Investment Fund of Saudi Arabia investing heavily in four of their football clubs, while many other teams also splurged on new signings.
The total amount spent by Saudi football clubs was around £700 million, which placed them fourth behind only the Premier League, France’s Ligue 1, and Spain’s La Liga, according to Deloitte data.
Several high-profile players from the Premier League were signed by Saudi clubs, with a combined total of approximately £250 million spent on transfers.
Alongside this, many world-renowned football stars will now be seen playing in the Gulf region, including Neymar, the Paris St-Germain forward, who joined Al-Hilal after a £77.6 million bid was accepted.
Other notable signings include Georginio Wijnaldum, Karim Benzema, Sadio Mane, Marcelo Brozovic, Franck Kessie, Jota, and Sergej Milinkovic-Savic, who moved from top-tier clubs such as Real Madrid, Bayern Munich, Inter Milan, Barcelona, and Celtic to the Saudi football league.
The summer transfer window nearly witnessed a new world-record transfer as well.
PSG granted Al-Hilal permission to negotiate with Kylian Mbappe following a £259 million bid, but the forward chose to remain with the French champions, and Neymar was eventually sold instead.
With the Saudi transfer window now closed, Saudi Pro League clubs had spent a whopping £784.2m during this summer transfer window, according to Transfermarkt data.
But 87 per cent of that spending was splashed out by just four clubs: Al Hilal, Al Ahli, Al Nassr and Al Ittihad.
These teams are the four Saudi Pro League clubs owned by the Public Investment Fund – who also own Newcastle.
Indeed, Al Hilal’s £302.1m net spend is more than any other club in the world this summer.
High-profile signings
Here is every high-profile player that has moved to the Saudi Pro League since their transfer window opened on July 1, and it will close on September 7.
Aymeric Laporte – Al Nassr
Age: 29
Signed from: Manchester City
Fee: £25m
Reported wage: £20m per year
Neymar – Al Hilal
Age: 31
Signed from: Paris Saint-Germain
Fee: £86.3m
Reported wage: £129.4m per year
Sadio Mane – Al Nassr
Age: 31
Signed from: Bayern Munich
Fee: £24m
Reported wage: £33m per year
Allan Saint-Maximin – Al Ahli
Age: 26
Signed from: Newcastle
Fee: £23m
Reported wage: Unknown
Riyad Mahrez – Al Ahli
Age: 32
Signed from: Man City
Fee: £30m
Reported wage: £25.6m per year
Jordan Henderson – Al Ettifaq
Signed from: Liverpool
Fee: £12m
Reported wage: £18.2m per year
Fabinho – Al Ittihad
Age: 29
Signed from: Liverpool
Fee: £40m
Reported wage: £36.4m per year
Cristiano Ronaldo – Al Nassr
Signed from: Man Utd
Fee: Free transfer
Reported wage: £173m per year
Karim Benzema – Al Ittihad
Age: 35
Signed from: Real Madrid
Fee: Free transfer
Reported wage: £172m per year
Roberto Firmino – Al Ahli
Age: 31
Signed from: Liverpool
Fee: Free transfer
Reported wage: £17m per year
N’Golo Kante – Al Ittihad
Signed from: Chelsea
Fee: Free transfer
Reported wage: £86.2m per year
Edouard Mendy – Al Ahli
Age: 31
Signed from: Chelsea
Reported fee: £16m
Reported wage: £9.4m per year
Ruben Neves – Al Hilal
Signed from: Wolves
Fee: £47m
Reported wage: £15.6m per year
Aleksandar Mitrovic – Al Hilal
Age: 28
Signed from: Fulham
Fee: £45m
Reported wage: £21.3m per year
Demarai Gray – Al Ettifaq
Age: 27
Signed from: Everton
Fee: £10m
Reported wage: Unknown
Alex Telles – Al Nassr
Age: 30
Signed from: Manchester United
Fee: £6m
Reported wage: Unknown
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Jota – Al Ittihad
Age: 24
Signed from: Celtic
Fee: £25m
Reported wage: £10m per year
Kalidou Koulibaly – Al Hilal
Age: 32
Signed from: Chelsea
Fee: £17m
Reported wage: £30m per year
Marcelo Brozovic – Al Nassr
Age: 30
Signed from: Inter Milan
Fee: £15m
Reported wage: £35m per year
Georginio Wijnaldum – Al Ettifaq
Age: 32
Signed from: Paris Saint-Germain
Fee: £8.6m
Reported wage: Unknown
Sergej Milinkovic-Savic – Al Hilal
Age: 28
Signed from: Lazio
Fee: £34m
Reported wage: £17m per year
Seko Fofana – Al Nassr
Age: 28
Signed from: Lens
Fee: £21.5m
Reported wage: £12.9m per year
Franck Kessie – Al Ahli
Age: 26
Signed from: Barcelona
Fee: £11m
Reported wage: £17m per year
Malcom – Al Hilal
Age: 26
Signed from: Zenit St Petersburg
Fee: £51.5m
Reported wage: £18.2m per year
Moussa Dembele – Al Ettifaq
Age: 27
Signed from: Lyon
Fee: Free
Reported wage: Unknown
Jack Hendry – Al Ettifaq
Age: 28
Signed from: Club Brugge
Fee: £6.5m
Reported wage: £15.2m per year
Yannick Carrasco – Al Shabab
Age: 30
Signed from: Atletico Madrid
Fee: £13m
Reported wage: Unknown
Gabri Veiga – Al Ahli
Age: 21
Signed from: Celta Vigo
Fee: £34m
Reported wage: £8.7m per year
Other notables
Grzegorz Krychowiak, Merih Demiral, Fashion Sakala, Yassine Bounou and Otavio.