Saudi Arabia, the new El Dorado of world football. Ready to do anything to restore its image on the international stage, the largest country in the Middle East has been working hard for several months to attract the biggest stars of the game. Since then, if Cristiano Ronaldo and his 200 million euros annual fee at Al-Nassr have opened Pandora’s box by perhaps reversing the movement of the transfer pendulum, the Gulf country has not stopped there and has continued to advance its pawns: Sadio Mané, Neymar, Aymeric Laporte, Karim Benzema, N’Golo Kanté, Ruben Neves, Riyad Mahrez, Kalidou Koulibaly, Edouard Mendy, Marcelo Brozovic, Seko Fofana, to name but a few, have all chosen to participate in the Saudis’ XXL project.
Insatiable on the transfer market, Saudi Arabia is nevertheless being more discreet during this summer window. At least, for now. Indeed, last week, a Saudi team reportedly offered Vinicius Junior a completely insane salary of one billion euros over five years, as well as a separate 10-year contract to become an ambassador for the 2034 World Cup. According to Reuters, the 24-year-old Brazilian was approached by officials from the Saudi Public Investment Fund (PIF) to inquire about his interest in joining the Saudi Pro League (SPL). While this offer is unlikely to shake up the Madrid winger’s future, he is nonetheless not indifferent to this exorbitant sum.
Saudis expected in Madrid to negotiate…
Favorite for the 2024 Ballon d’Or after another sparkling performance against Atalanta Bergamo, the Auriverde striker seems, today, in an ideal context to perform at the highest level. Enough to calm the Saudi ardor? Nothing is less certain… This Thursday, the Brazilian media Globe indicates, in fact, that the Saudis do not want to stop there and have now turned to a compatriot of Vinicius Jr. His name? Éder Militão. Starting against the Dea on Wednesday evening, the 26-year-old Madrid defender has a release clause of 500 million euros but the Saudi Arabian Public Investment Fund, which owns several teams, is already in discussions with the main person concerned…
Similar to the strategy adopted with ‘Vini’, the objective is to discuss with the player before starting negotiations with the Merengues. With this in mind, Globe even adds that the representative of the Sertãozinho native would have postponed his vacation to deal with this offensive. Under contract until June 2028 with the Casa Blanca, could the former defender of São Paulo and FC Porto, who recently extended his lease with Real, give in to the Saudi sirens? Difficult, for the moment, to say, but there is no doubt that the amounts offered by Saudi Arabia risk giving some headaches to the 1m86 right-hander. While waiting to learn more about this complex case, the Brazilian international (35 caps, 2 goals), victim of a cruciate ligament rupture last season, can celebrate the Merengues’ first title of the year…
