How Saudi football clubs are disrupting European football

IN 1975 A 34-year-old Pelé came out of semi-retirement to sign a huge contract with the New York Cosmos in the nascent North American Soccer League (NASL). It was a coup for the club to hire a player who had won the World Cup three times, even if he was in his footballing dotage. The Brazilian proved his worth, scoring 37 goals in 64 matches. Before long, the NASL was established as an attractive place for leading players to wind down their careers: Gerd Müller, George Best and Johan Cruyff followed in Pelé’s wake.

Although the NASL collapsed in 1984, the idea of raising the profile of a football league by signing older stars seeking a final payday (and a more relaxed level of competition) has been replicated elsewhere. Some of these leagues have flourished and gone on to develop local talent (Japan, Australia), whereas others have crashed and burned (China). The latest country to have a go is Saudi Arabia, whose revamped and highly lucrative Pro League is shaking up the economics of European football.

In June the Saudi Arabian government announced that its sovereign wealth fund had acquired a 75% stake in four of the league’s 18 teams: Al-Hilal and Al-Nassr in Riyadh, and Al-Ahli and Al-Ittihad in Jeddah. The Public Investment Fund (PIF) is co-ordinating the acquisition of players based in Europe, of whom it aims to place at least three at each of these clubs. Four state-owned entities have invested in another four teams. The PIF argues that its involvement in football is part of a broader project to diversify the Saudi economy away from oil and to promote physical activity among citizens. In 2021 it bought an English Premier League club, Newcastle United, and Saudi Arabia is widely expected to bid to host the World Cup in 2030, perhaps as the dominant partner in a joint bid. Critics see the government’s investments in football, as well as in boxing, Formula One and golf, as an attempt to draw attention away from its dismal human-rights record.

For wealthy European clubs, second-tier leagues in far-flung destinations have been relatively unimportant. They offer lucrative places to tour and suitable employers onto whom to offload fading stars on high-wage contracts. The transfer of Cristiano Ronaldo to Al-Nassr in late 2022 was greeted with a sigh of relief in the red half of Manchester. Chelsea have trimmed their bloated roster by selling three squad players to Saudi clubs. The wages on offer in the Middle East far exceed those on offer in the Premier League. Mr Ronaldo’s salary, including commercial agreements, is reportedly $200m per year.

It appears, though, that the PIF’s ambitions extend further than taking Europe’s cast-offs. The most interesting signing so far this summer is that of a 26-year-old Portuguese midfielder, Rúben Neves. He moved from a mid-table Premier League team, Wolverhampton Wanderers, to Al-Hilal. Mr Neves, who was the club captain and has been a regular with the Portuguese national team, is entering his prime years. That he has opted to spend a chunk of these playing in a league of lower quality challenges the assumption of most clubs and fans that professionals will seek to play at the highest level they can.

For Mr Neves, the transfer is a sacrifice of sorts. He is believed to earn much more money in Saudi Arabia, but his career at the highest level may have ended. Had he stayed in England, he could possibly have played for a club in the UEFA Champions League, Europe’s most prestigious competition. If he seeks a move back to Europe, clubs of the same calibre may not be interested in him. He could lose his place in the Portuguese team.

The move also highlighted European clubs’ vulnerabilities. Wolves are far from minnows. They are the world’s 25th-richest team by revenue, according to Deloitte, an accounting firm. Yet the PIF presented them with a clear choice. They could accept £47m ($60m) for their star player or hold on to him for one more year until his contract expired, and then lose him for nothing. The number of clubs with either the status or resources to resist the PIF is very small.

Consider also Marcelo Brozovic, a 30-year-old Croatian midfielder, who captained Internazionale in the Champions League final five weeks ago. After eight years in Milan he wanted a new challenge. Barcelona had been keen to sign him, but their contract offer was eclipsed by Al-Nassr’s, and Mr Brozovic chose to head east. It isn’t just that European clubs are struggling to keep hold of their existing players. Teams of all sizes—no one, after all, is more prestigious than Barcelona—may have to rethink their recruitment plans.

Players are still only trickling towards Saudi Arabia. But the summer transfer window does not close until the end of August, so for the next few weeks, and then again during transfer windows to come, European football clubs will look eastwards with concern. The PIF will continue to eye up well-known players—in particular if Saudi Arabia wins the right to part-host the World Cup in 2030, an outcome that would intensify the government’s focus on football.

Much will be revealed in the next few years. Speculation abounds of Saudi Arabia’s lofty hopes: of entering its clubs in an expanded Champions League, or of reviving and expanding the reviled idea for a European Super League. For now, though, and for the first time, an upstart league is posing a genuine challenge to Europe’s stranglehold on the world’s brightest talents.■