Headlines were made in January 2023 when Cristiano Ronaldo moved to Saudi Arabia to play for Al Nassr. Ronaldo is still a big name player but at the age of 38, he is not the player he was even just a few years ago.
Therefore, no eyebrows were raised by Ronaldo’s decision to join the Saudi club and enjoy a final payday before he retires.
This summer, French midfielder N’Golo Kante has agreed to join Saudi Arabia league champions Al-Ittihad at the end of his contract at Chelsea.
Kante is 32 years old and would still have something to offer for a club in the Premier League or a team at a different top European league.
Karim Benzema has also agreed to join Al-Ittihad from Real Madrid but the France international striker is 35 years of age and coming to the end of his career at the highest level.
In terms of attracting the top talent in world football, there is nothing to worry about for the leading European leagues and clubs.
The three players highlighted above are going to retire shortly and their best years are behind them.
However, the same cannot be said for Ruben Neves and the Wolverhampton Wanderers midfielder is on the brink of joining Al Hilal in Saudi Arabia for a fee believed to be around £50 million.
The Portuguese international has previously been linked with moves to several top European clubs, including Liverpool in the Premier League but it seems he will make the move to Saudi Arabia at the age of 26.
There are rumours he could be loaned to Newcastle United for two years but that would raise question marks surrounding the ownership of the club.
Bernardo Silva is the latest player to be linked with a move to Saudi Arabia and the Portuguese could also be signing for Al Hilal.
Silva was a key component of the Manchester City treble success last season and has long been linked with a move to Barcelona.
However, the media is reporting Al Hilal have tabled a huge contract offer for Silva. The potential transfers of Neves and Silva are more than just two players looking for a final payday before retirement.
They are two players in their prime who could play for top clubs in Europe and win the big trophies.
Manchester City have offered a new contract to Silva and Paris Saint-Germain are also interested but even they could not match the money being offered by teams in Saudi Arabia.
Will the Saudi Arabia league go the same way as the Chinese Super League? The Chinese Super League was attempting to challenge the top European leagues for the best players but quickly fell away.
It will be interesting to follow the transfer market this summer and see who decides to move to Saudi Arabia. If they can start attracting top players in their prime, the European leagues are going to have a fight on their hands to compete in the transfer market.
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