It seems the Saudi Pro League isn’t satisfied with its influx of foreign stars and is eyeing big moves from the Premier League in the summer transfer window, with names like Mohamed Salah and Kevin De Bruyne targeted.
Established players such as Kevin De Bruyne, Mohamed Salah, Virgil van Dijk, Alisson, Raphaël Varane, Casemiro, Bruno Fernandes, Bernardo Silva, and Andreas Pereira are all on the agenda for next season, a source told ESPN.
According to the source, there will also be a push to sign younger players, including Juventus’ 20-year-old forward Matìas Soulè.
Sources in Saudi Arabia are not expecting top-flight teams to match their record £757 million ($957m) spend from 2023 but insist this summer’s transfer strategy will be equally aggressive and the outlay on player fees is set to be significant.
In the summer of 2023, SPL transfer spend was second only to the £1.1 billion ($1.39bn) spent by the Premier League.
Which Saudi Pro League clubs could target PL stars?
Mohamed Salah has been identified as the marquee signing for the next season of the Saudi league. Apart from him Al Ahli are in the market for a striker, Cristiano Ronaldo’s Al Nassr are keen to sign a goalkeeper, and Al Ittihad are looking to bring in a centre-back and a central midfielder.
Al Qadisiyah are also expected to spend heavily in the summer if they get promoted to the SPL. They are top of the second division and are owned by Saudi Aramco, the state-owned national oil company of Saudi Arabia, which has a value of more than $2 trillion.
Sherjeel Malik is the editor at FanHaat with a writing experience in multiple sports. He oversees the editorial and content coverage at FanHaat and writes often around combat sports, football and other marquee sports. A professional highlight of his career was when WWE’s Paul Heyman shared one of his articles on his social media.
Apart from writing, editing and watching sports, he likes to indulge in reading fiction, watching war documentaries and is a fan of Liverpool FC
