The Saudi Pro League will continue to invest significantly to realise its ambition of becoming one of the world’s top domestic competitions, but its focus is on financial viability for its clubs, insists the league’s chief operating officer.
The kingdom has this summer embarked on an extraordinary player-recruitment drive, attracting some of the game’s most prominent footballers to its lead division.
Brazil star Neymar and Ballon d’Or holder Karim Benzema headline the high-profile arrivals – the pair signed for Al Hilal and champions Al Ittihad, respectively – and have been joined in the Saudi Pro League by, among others, current African Footballer of the Year Sadio Mane, Manchester City treble winners Riyad Mahrez and Aymeric Laporte, 2018 World Cup winner N’Golo Kante, and former Liverpool captain Jordan Henderson.
Five-time Ballon d’Or winner Cristiano Ronaldo, meanwhile, made the move to the kingdom last December, with Riyadh’s Al Nassr.