Saudi Pro League close to overtaking Premier League by key spending metric
The Saudi Pro League could overtake the Premier League and become the world’s biggest spenders of the summer transfer window in net terms with further deadline-day signings on Thursday.
Al-Ittihad have continued to pursue a world record £215m swoop for Liverpool forward Mohamed Salah, despite the Merseyside club’s insistence that he is not for sale.
A successful deal for Salah would push the Saudi Pro League’s total net spend for the summer to around £940m, within touching distance of the Premier League’s £1bn.
But even if that transfer does not materialise, Saudi Arabia has already announced its arrival as a major force in the market during a transformative window.
Following Cristiano Ronaldo’s move to the competition in December, a procession of stars from European football have been lured to the Middle East this summer.
Salah suitors Al-Ittihad recruited Real Madrid striker Karim Benzema, Al Hilal signed Brazil No10 Neymar, while former Liverpool forward Sadio Mane joined Ronaldo at Al Nassr.
Saudi clubs have already spent more in gross terms this summer than everyone except Premier League teams, who invested a record £2.36bn.
Their running total stands at €900m (£772m) before the league’s final day of business. The Saudi Pro League transfer deadline is at 10pm UK time on Thursday.
That is the same total as Ligue 1 in France, and more than Serie A in Italy (€850m), Germany’s Bundesliga (€745m) and La Liga in Spain (€440m).
It has also been of benefit to English clubs, who have received around £250m in transfer fees from Saudi sides.
“The Saudi Pro League has provided an additional active market in which clubs can earn a substantial fee on the sale of their players,” Calum Ross, assistant director in Deloitte’s Sports Business Group, said this week.
“The emergence of more active participants in the global transfer market has the potential to accelerate clubs’ efforts to establish financially sustainable business models.
“In this summer’s transfer window, clubs that have sold players to those from emerging international leagues have then gone on to spend receipts with a large number of other clubs, both within and outside of the Premier League.”
Liverpool reportedly rejected a £150m offer for Salah from Al-Ittihad last week and were braced for another approach before the window shut.
Reds manager Jurgen Klopp insisted at the weekend that he expected Salah, 31, to remain at Anfield, saying: “He wants to stay, he wants to be here and be with us. We are really happy – we need people in the team like him.”