This article will tell you about the lineup Saudi Pro League’s All Star XI will have
Cristiano Ronaldo, Karim Benzema, N’Golo Kante, Sergej Milinkovic-Savic, Riyad Mahrez, Sadio Mane, and a slew of other soccer players have relocated to Saudi Arabia.
It’s all part of the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia’s massive financial investment in sport in general, not just football. Football follows in the footsteps of golf and boxing in terms of significant expenditure.
Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman’s Public Investment Fund (PIF), Saudi Arabia’s sovereign wealth fund, has taken control four of the kingdom’s largest clubs. These are Al Nassr and Al Hilal in Riyadh, and Al Ittihad and Al Ahli in Jeddah.
As a result, these teams will have a lot of money to spend in the next months and years. However, many other teams are also spending money.
This is how Saudi Pro League’s All Star XI will lineup.
We have already seen a slew of massive transactions in the summer of 2023, with superstars being paid a fortune to go to Saudi Arabia. Ronaldo and Benzema get €200 million per season, while Kante earns €100 million.
Benzema and Kante joined Al-Ittihad on free transfers after their contracts at Real Madrid and Chelsea expired, respectively.
Al-Hilal made a big statement by signing Ruben Neves from Wolves for €55 million and Kalidou Koulibaly from Chelsea for €23 million.
They then signed Sergej Milinkovic-Savic from Lazio for €40 million on a contract earning more than €20 million per season, up from €3.2 million in Italy.
Chelsea is offloading many of its stars to the Saudi Pro League, with goalkeeper Edouard Mendy joining Al-Ahli for €18.5 million.
Liverpool’s Roberto Firmino has joined the same club on a free transfer. Al-Ahli also bought Riyad Mahrez from Manchester City for €35 million and Allan Saint-Maximin from Newcastle for €25 million.
Marcelo Brozovic has joined Ronaldo at Al-Nassr after joining Inter for €18 million. Lens midfielder Seko Fofana has also joined Al-Nassr for €19 million, as has Manchester United left back Alex Telles for €7 million.
Al-Ettifaq have signed Liverpool great Jordan Henderson, Lyon attacker Moussa Dembele, and ex-Celtic player Jack Hendry to support Steven Gerrard.
