All the players transferred to Saudi Arabia, without exception, would have given up on playing at the highest level according to Daniel Riolo.
During the summer transfer window, the total transfer fees reached the historic threshold of 6.87 billion euros for the period between June 1 and September 1. According to figures published by Fifa, the Saudi Pro League was the second highest spending championship (817.81 million euros), only ahead of the Premier League.
Many great players have joined Saudi Arabia, such as Karim Benzema, Neymar or Sadio Mané to name a few. For Daniel Riolo, this choice inevitably corresponds to the twilight of their career. “Everyone who went to Saudi Arabia can tell me what they want, but for me, it’s a form of renunciation, a decision that means you give up competing at the highest level. If they want to present it differently, that’s their right, but in the end everyone is attracted by money, otherwise there would be no reason to go there,” estimated the sports journalist during an interview given to El Heddaf TV.
Daniel Riolo describes as “disgusting” the words of Neymar who says he experienced “hell” with Messi at PSG. 👊
“Messi?” His time at PSG will leave no trace. He came, he sold jerseys, goodbye sir.
Messi went to PSG because he was the only… pic.twitter.com/vlImOUazxR
— Actu Foot (@ActuFoot_) September 11, 2023
Clubs like Al Nasr or Al-Hilal spent between 143 and 331 million euros on the transfer market. Sold for a supposed amount of 90 million by Paris Saint-Germain, Neymar had a market value lower than this price on the specialized site Transfermarkt (60 million).
