lights up, Saudi Pro League here we go! The world’s second most disruptive sporting competition (after the other Saudi one, in golf) got under way in Jeddah on Friday night where Al-Ahli’s pack of imported stars managed to haul themselves over the line against Al-Hazm, a team of plucky journeymen from the Arabian sticks.
A hat-trick for Roberto Firmino decided the game and both he and Riyad Mahrez looked a class above the rest of the players on display. For other big name signings, say Édouard Mendy and Allan Saint-Maximin, the word sketchy sprang to mind. They may yet have to find a higher level of performance to justify their tax-free pay cheques.
The kingdom has funneled hundreds of millions of dollars into attracting top European talent, including Cristiano Ronaldo, who joined Al Nassr last year as part of a €200 million ($219 million) per year package that makes him the world's highest paid athlete. Other top players that have recently joined Saudi teams include Karim Benzema in a $107 million deal with Al Ittihad, Sadio Mané in a $43.83 million deal with Al Nassr, and Riyad Mahrez with a $32 million deal with Al-Ahli. (Lionel Messi and Kylian Mbappé turned down even more staggering sums to join the Saudi league.)
The recruitment drive follows a deal that saw Saudi Arabia’s Public Investment Fund take ownership of the nation’s top four soccer clubs. The soccer league also announced that it has entered into a range of broadcast deals with as many as 130 global markets, excluding the U.S.
Now there’s a new player in town and the Saudi oil fields can create bottomless pits of cash to blow the English league out of the water.
Yet Premier League boss Richard Masters reckons the Middle Eastern state’s new-found love of spending big on football is no threat.
Ronaldo isn't exactly impartial, but for what it's worth he claims the RSL is superior to MLS.
That the recent influx of top talent will improve the competition isn't up for debate. How much of a boost is, and that remains to be seen. The overwhelming majority of rosters are comprised of local products.
Many of those are quality players — all 26 members of the national team that stunned eventual champion Argentina at the 2022 World Cup in Qatar were contracted to Saudi clubs at the time. With a growing collection of familiar faces on display, many fans will tune in to see what all the fuss is all about — especially now that they can.
Doug McIntyre is a soccer writer for FOX Sports. Before joining FOX Sports in 2021, he was a staff writer with ESPN and Yahoo Sports and he has covered United States men’s and women’s national teams at multiple FIFA World Cups.
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