Reporter cold ice report Last summer window, the Saudi league spent 950 million (euros, the same below), becoming the second largest money-burning league after the Premier League, and first-class stars represented by Mr. Benzema and Brazil superstar Neymar followed Ronaldo's footsteps to join, which can be described as unprecedented. The Saudi side said at that time that it would continue to burn money this summer and sign superstars such as Salah and Modric. But now that Saudi Arabia has been in the summer for three weeks, only Senegalese winger Moussa · Diaby has made a single big signing of more than 50 million, and the other slightly famous ones are Aubameyang, Nacho and Bonaventura, which are completely different from last year. It could even be said that it was a little cold.
At this time last year, the Saudi league was burning money like crazy, most of the first-line stars led by Benzema were in place, and Neymar was negotiating. Neymar is the most valuable (90 million), while Otavio, Malcom, Ruben · Neves and Mitrovic all exceed 50 million. In addition, there are Benzema, Firmino, Kante, and Krihowiak, who joined for free with super high salaries. The total investment is more than 950 million, and the annual salary of players is often tens of millions or even hundreds of millions.
However, the Saudi league did not continue to burn money this summer, only France winger Moussa · Diaby from Aston Villa has a transfer fee of more than 50 million, and the other four players with a transfer fee of more than 10 million have not exceeded 20 million. The rumored superstars such as Salah, De Bruyne, Modric, Son Heung-min, B-seat, Casemiro, and Ederson did not come.
So far, the Saudi league has only invested 157 million, only 1/6 of last year, less than 17%. So, what made the seemingly unlimited "money capacity" of the Saudi league collapse rapidly after less than two years?
The root cause is Saudi Arabia's bid to host the 2034 World Cup, which is the main factor that no longer burns money without an upper limit.
Saudi Arabia has formulated a 10-year plan to improve the competitiveness of the league and improve the youth training system, and the huge investment in the introduction of top stars is no longer the preferred option. Saudi Arabia began to build youth training academies across the country, following Qatar's example of selecting potential football teenagers from the Arab world and black Africa, and sending them to Europe for training through the youth training system. Saudi Sports Minister Al-Tuleki said that Saudi league signings are no longer seeking to recruit top superstars, but are focusing on developing the national team that will host the World Cup in 10 years. In addition, attention is paid to the modernization of youth training academies, training bases and stadiums.
In order to better develop new players, the number of foreign players registered in the Saudi league has increased from 8 to 10 this season, but two of them must be U21 players. The number of first-team registrations was reduced from 30 to 25 and the Under-19 league was changed to the Under-18 league in order to allow young players to play in the higher echelons of the club league earlier. Unless absolutely necessary, we will not bring in top foreign players at a high price, leaving the position to local players.
The second is the "inadaptability" of the original big names. Returning to Europe, Henderson revealed the inconvenience of living in Saudi Arabia, the impact of the hot climate on training and matches, and the league's lack of fan appeal; Karim Benzema's clash with his coach has led to the dismissal of two coaches, and the elderly top star has concerns about the management of the Saudi league's team.
What's even more surprising is that the Saudi clubs with many first-line superstars, especially the Riyadh Victory led by Ronaldo and the Riyadh Crescent led by Neymar, did not show a dimensionality reduction advantage in the AFC Champions League, but were eliminated by Ain, whose popularity and strength of foreign aid are much lower. Jeddah United, led by Benzema, also lost to Cairo Nationals, whose foreign aid is far less famous and stronger than him, in the Club World Cup.
These circumstances have more or less affected the enthusiasm of the Saudi league to bring in high-priced reinforcements this summer. The Saudi giants are beginning to realize that the balloon star cannot bring about the improvement of the strength of the team, and the climate and cultural differences have also led some big names to leave. Jordan Henderson was the first, with stars such as Aymeric Laporte, N'Golo Kante and Ruben · Neves also considering whether to return to Europe. The rejection of stars such as Salah, De Bruyne, and Son Heung-min has a very prominent demonstration effect in Europe.
For now, Saudi Arabia is turning to keep their existing top stars rather than signing more new superstars, because keeping stars is more important for the Saudi league to reverse the "unlivable" reputation, and the new signings have also been lowered to under 30 in the hope that they can play in a stable state for a few more years and promote homegrown players.
This summer, the Saudi league prefers to hire professional executives from European football to improve the club's operational capabilities over top stars. Riyadh Victory found Real Madrid legend Hierro as sporting director, while Jeddah signed former Spain, Tottenham, Barca and Betis sporting director Prañez. Aramco Group's promoted Macadisia, although it has signed stars such as Nacho and Aubameyang, has attracted more attention for the appointment of Glasgow Rangers' executive director Bisgrove.
Viola, an agent with rich experience in Saudi Arabia, said that the Saudi league has begun to shift to a sustainable "foreign aid + youth training" balanced ecological model. Against this backdrop, it is not surprising that the Saudi league's investment in foreign aid has fallen sharply this summer.