‘Oil money’ is sweeping the European transfer market.
When discussing this summer’s transfer window, it’s hard to avoid mentioning Saudi Arabia. And it’s a threatening one at that.
Cristiano Ronaldo’s move to Al Nasr in December last year signaled the start of the ‘Saudi Rush’. Although he’s not quite the player he once was, Ronaldo is undoubtedly one of the greatest superstars in soccer history. He’s won the Ballon d’Or, the most prestigious award a soccer player can win, five times.
Few would have guessed that a player who has made such a mark on soccer history would end up in the Saudi League. It’s a lesser-known league compared to the big European leagues. Nevertheless, Ronaldo headed to Saudi Arabia for a simple reason. It was the big salary.
Ronaldo was earning £25 million a year at Manchester United just before he left for Al Nasr. But Al Nasr offered him a whopping €200 million ($289.3 million). That’s a seven-fold increase in salary from his time at United. It was an offer he couldn’t easily refuse. Karim Benzema, who moved to Al Ittihad this summer, is on a similar level.
As a result, many well-known European players have chosen to play in Saudi Arabia. While most of them were more or less past their prime, others, like Hubeng Neves, who moved to Al Hilal, were in the midst of their prime. The power of ‘oil money’ was absolute.
But that’s not all. Although the deal didn’t go through, Al Hilal offered Lionel Messi €400 million a year. That’s nearly double Ronaldo’s salary. They also offered €700 million a year for Kylian Mbappe, who has recently fallen out with Paris Saint-Germain. While the two transfers didn’t go through, it’s a move that surprised everyone.
The reason for the Saudi league’s growth is the Saudi Vision 2030. The kingdom wants to reduce its dependence on oil by 2030 and create an economy in many different areas. One of them is the soccer industry. The plan is to bring together famous European players to create a Saudi league that will attract the world’s attention and create an economy.카지노
Of course, there is still the controversy of “sports washing,” which is the use of sports to cover up political issues such as Saudi Arabia’s crackdown on domestic human rights. However, the fact that Saudi Arabia is using sports to transition from its oil-dependent economy to a new era of renewable energy is something that the Korean sports industry, which has not yet expanded its sports industry, should pay attention to.
Meanwhile, the Saudi Professional League for the 2023-24 season will be broadcast live in Korea exclusively on SPOTV NOW, a sports broadcasting channel operated by Spotify. It will also be available on premium sports TV channels SPOTV ON and SPOTV Prime.