Saudi Pro League: Ronaldo-Neymar face off a clear message to football world

When Al Nassr and Al Hilal, the two heavyweights of Saudi football, matched up in the Arab Club Champions Cup final on 12 August, the former scored the brownie points with a 2-1 victory. It could well be a different story when they face off in the Saudi Pro League, a competition which has been grabbing eyeballs in world football this season, on 30 November. Thanks to two names.

The Cristiano Ronaldo-Neymar match-up, fitness and form permitting, will be a dream one after the Brazil captain became the biggest name to switch over to the Middle East after six seasons with French champions Paris Saint-Germain. The Saudis may have missed out on reviving a duel between Ronaldo and Lionel Messi after the Argentine captain opted for the lure of Inter Miami, but the star shower on offer clearly signals the intent of the oil rich state. 

“I am here in Saudi Arabia, I am Hilali,’’ Neymar said in a video posted to the club’s social media accounts on Thursday. He is reportedly set to earn 100 million euro per season with Al Hilal, according to a source close to the negotiations – making it a win-win situation for the 31-year-old who had moved to PSG from Barcelona with a world record fee of 222 million euro ($242 million).  

The 2023-24 season of Saudi Pro League (SPL), which got underway on 11 August, now boasts of enough star power – both in terms of players as well as managers – to throw the gauntlet to the big leagues of Europe. It’s a paradigm shift from the scenario of even a decade back, when the movement of a star footballer in his late 30s, for a quick buck, was looked upon with derision.   

In fact, when Ronaldo signed for Al-Nassr in December 2022, shortly after his acrimonious exit from Manchester United, many felt that football’s biggest showman of this generation wanted to take things easy at 37. After all, he has been there, done that — and the chances of him playing another World Cup seemed slim at best. However, the Portuguese superstar’s relocation to a country with a dubious human rights record has emboldened other big names to take the plunge.

There are, of course, no prizes for guessing that Saudi Arabia — the regional big brother — wanted to strike back after having watched Qatar pull off a smooth, zero-crime World Cup in November-December 2022 against all odds.

That apart, Saudi Arabia has gradually but conspicuously been leveraging sports for a makeover of the country’s image. Examples include bringing in an F1 race, the world’s richest horseracing event, and bankrolling the LIV Golf Tour, which has rocked the golf establishment to its core. What’s more, Saudi Tourism was actually one of the co-sponsors of the Indian Premier League (IPL) this year.

However, if there is one sport in which Saudis can claim some sort of lineage on the regional as well as global stage, it is football, and it comes as little surprise that they are now pulling out all stops to capture the imagination of the football world, from hosting the upcoming FIFA Club World Cup in Jeddah to launching their own pro league with some of the game's biggest names. This, despite reportedly withdrawing from a joint bid to host the 2030 World Cup with Egypt and Greece.

Karim Benzema, Sadio Mane, Riyad Mahrez, N'Golo Kante, and Jordan Henderson are among the who’s who — apart from Ronaldo and Neymar — who have decided to make the switch from Europe to Saudi Arabia this summer. The fact that a few notable stars in their 20s, such as Sergej Milinkovic-Savic, Ruben Neves, Allan Saint-Maximin and Franck Kessie have joined them can mean one thing only — it was an offer they couldn’t refuse.

It’s not exactly a secret that the sudden burst in spending this summer has been fuelled by the Saudi sovereign fund, officially known as the Public Investment Fund (PIF), acquiring four popular clubs — Al Nassr, Al Hilal, Al Ittihad and Al Ahli.

The league also boasts famous names in managerial roles, with the likes of Steven Gerrard, Jorge Jesus, Nuno Espirito Santo and Slaven Bilic in charge of SPL teams. Meanwhile, Jose Mourinho has been appointed to the board of directors of the kingdom’s Mahd Sports Academy while Michael Emenalo, the former Chelsea technical director, has joined as SPL's new director of football.

"Saudi Arabia has changed the market,’’ rued Pep Guardiola, the Manchester City manager, sometime back after losing Mahrez. Jurgen Klopp, the plain speaking Liverpool manager, meanwhile, called for the Saudi summer transfer window, which extends beyond the English Premier League’s deadline day, to be curtailed in order to prevent important players from potentially leaving for the SPL.

Nevertheless, the Saudis seem to be in it for the long haul as the football world can only wait with bated breath.