The Etihad has announced the signing of N'Golo Take this opportunity to share with you the information behind the big purchase of the Saudi League. The following information is partly collected and partly personal analysis. It's up to you to consider its credibility.
1. Saudi Arabia has begun a new round of big purchases, with the ultimate goal of hosting the 2030 World Cup. From the perspective of hosting the World Cup, the key at this stage is to promote that Saudi Arabia is suitable for carrying the atmosphere of the World Cup from hardware to software. The hardware lies in the stadium and related supporting facilities, the software depends on whether there is sufficient potential enthusiasm for football in China, and whether the combination of the two is in line with FIFA's goal of promoting football. Therefore, the focus of the big purchase is to enhance the "visibility" of the Saudi league at home and abroad, rather than to improve its league "level". Attention can be used to raise people's enthusiasm for football, so that the increased enthusiasm and the quality of the stadium can be announced to the world.
Despite FIFA's consistent corruption, the final competition is likely to be whether it bribes enough, and Saudi Arabia naturally has an innate advantage in this regard. But considering that the competitors in 2030 have the Iberian Peninsula and South American countries' respective "joint bidding", and Saudi Arabia's football heritage is obviously not comparable to this bunch of giants, some façade efforts have been done, and FIFA is better off after "collecting money".
2. In addition to Saudi 2030, sportswashing is naturally one of Saudi Arabia's purposes. As long as the image of Saudi Arabia as a host for major sporting events can be established, the first thing that makes the world think of Saudi Arabia is its investment in F1, golf and football, and nothing else, and it has achieved sportswashing.
3. The four teams of Riyadh Victory, Ittihad, Ahly and Hilal in the Saudi League are all held by the Saudi Public Investment Fund (hereinafter referred to as Saudi PIF), which is the current owner of Newcastle United. Of course, Saudi PIF is "nominally" owned by the Saudi Arabian government, and the government and the royal family do not directly interfere with the operation of Saudi PIF. That is, whether Saudi PIF bought people through its own teams or previously acquired Newcastle United, it was only a financial decision made by Saudi PIF.
Of course, when there was a legal dispute between Saudi PIF and the PGA before, the saying "because the shareholders of Saudi PIF are royal families, they are not subject to legal sovereignty" have been used, so it is better to listen to the statement that "the two are independent of each other".
4. Although Saudi PIF also has a stake in Clearlake Capital, the parent company of Chelsea, it is not appropriate to understand it as "benefit transmission", after all, the cost performance of this delivery method is basically negative, and it is relatively fast to send to Newcastle United. The Saudi league will target Chelsea players such as Hakim Ziyesh, Kalidu Koulibaly and N'Golo N'Golo Kante, mainly because they are world-renowned Muslim players with top influence in the local and Middle East and North Africa. Other popular targets, such as Aubameyang and Edward Mendy, are not sure if they are Muslim (I haven't found any information), but as one of the most well-known African-American players of the era, they are also suitable candidates. Cristiano Ronaldo and Ruben Neves may have plans to prevent them from taking the platform for Portugal, as is Messi's appointment as Saudi Arabia's tourism spokesperson.