Saudi Pro League spends more than 1 billion USD to buy players in the summer of 2023
The total Saudi Pro League spending would have been even higher, had Liverpool not rejected the $190 million offer for Mohamed Salah from Al Ittihad. On the last day of the Saudi summer market on September 7, Al Ittihad is said to have made a higher offer - about $ 220 million - but still failed to convince Liverpool.
Al Ettifaq also could not recruit Jadon Sancho on September 7. Man Utd do not charge a loan fee, but want Al Ettifaq to pay his full salary and buy the English midfielder outright for $ 60 million in the summer of 2024. The club is led by coach Steven Gerrard has rejected this proposal. Previously, Al Hilal could not convince Lionel Messi and Kylian Mbappe to play in the Saudi Pro League.
However, the Gulf nation still attracts many other stars this summer, after the deal that paved the way for Cristiano Ronaldo to Al Nassr earlier this year. In particular, Al Hilal spent the most with $ 377 million, including a record $ 98 million deal for Neymar. In addition, this club also recruited Ruben Neves (from Wolves), Kalidou Koulibaly (Chelsea), Sergej Milinkovic-Savic (Lazio) and Malcom (Zenit St Petersburg).
In second place is Al Ahli with more than 200 million USD to bring in Roberto Firmino (Liverpool), Riyad Mahrez (Man City), Allan Saint-Maximin (Newcastle), Roger Ibanez (Roma), Edouard Mendy (Chelsea) and Gabri Veiga ( Celta Vigo).
Ronaldo's Al Nassr ranked third, with a spending of 176 million USD on Sadio Mane, Marcelo Brozovic, Aymeric Laporte, Seko Fofana, Alex Telles and Otavio.
Defending champion Al Ittihad failed to convince Salah and Sergio Ramos, but still brought in Karim Benzema, N'Golo Kanté, Jota, Fabinho and Luiz Felipe. Gerrard's Al Ettifaq is expected to have a difficult season when they cannot recruit as many stars as their opponents, although they still have some notable names such as Jordan Henderson, Moussa Dembele, Georginio Wijnaldum and Demirai Gray. .
According to transfer site Transfermarkt, the 18 Saudi Pro League clubs have 522 players, including 152 foreign players, accounting for 29.1%. According to Saudi Pro League regulations, each club can only register a maximum of eight foreign players. This number is reduced to six players in the AFC Champions League, so Saudi Arabian clubs must consider before registering for the competition roster.
The English Premier League is the only league with more spending than the Saudi Pro League in the summer of 2023, with a total amount approaching the $3 billion mark. This is also the second summer transfer window in a row that the Premier League has more net spending (after deducting the proceeds from player sales) by 1 billion euros, with 1.295 billion euros ($1.390 billion) this summer and 1.345 billion euros ($1.440 billion) summer 2022.
In particular, Chelsea spent 540 million USD on new recruits - a record number for a club in a transfer period in Premier League history. This number is also more than double the amount of money spent by any other Premier League club this summer, and brings the spending level of "The Blues" under new owner Todd Boehly past the 1 billion pound mark (more than 1 billion pounds). $2.2 billion).
Following are Man City (270 million USD), Tottenham (264), Arsenal (259), Man Utd (228), Liverpool (206), Newcastle (162). Meanwhile, the club that spends the least is rookie Luton Town with less than 12 million USD.
Moises Caicedo is the most expensive rookie when recruited by Chelsea with a total cost of 146 million USD, including 127 million USD fixed and 19 million USD in additional fees depending on personal performance. The Ecuadorian midfielder thereby became the most expensive player in English football history, breaking the old record of 137 million USD that Arsenal spent to buy midfielder Delcan Rice from West Ham in mid-July.
Other players surpassing the 60 million pound ($75 million) mark include Dominik Szoboszlai, Mason Mount ($75 million), Kai Havertz ($83 million) and Rasmus Hojlund ($94 million).
Meanwhile, the remaining four top European leagues all do not have spending reaching the $1 billion mark, with Ligue 1 (961 million USD), Serie A (911), Bundesliga (800) and La Liga (471).
