Thanks to enormous financial means, the Saudi Pro League manages to attract great players like Cristiano Ronaldo and more recently Karim Benzema. Nothing to worry UEFA and its president Aleksander Ceferin, convinced that Saudi Arabia has not taken the right path to develop its football.
Saudi Arabia has not completed its recruitment. After Cristiano Ronaldo this winter, then Karim Benzema a few months later, Saudi clubs continue to send tempting offers that are very difficult to refuse. Some players like Luka Modric manage to resist. But many others, like N’Golo Kanté or Kalidou Koulibaly, seem to have gone into exile.
Ceferin tackles Saudi Arabia
Will this trend end up weakening European football? Not at all, replies UEFA President Aleksander Ceferin, who took the opportunity to teach the Saudi Pro League a lesson. ” I think Saudi Arabia is making a mistakewarned the Slovenian in remarks relayed by the Dutch media NOS. They should invest in academies, for coaches and to develop their players. Buying players who are almost at the end of their career is not a policy that will improve their football. That doesn’t worry me. China made the same mistake. »
“The system of buying the players that almost ended their careers is not the system that develops football”
UEFA president Aleksander Ceferin on players moving to 🇸🇦 pic.twitter.com/mcYrwBnhPP
— Sky Sports News (@SkySportsNews) June 19, 2023
” It’s not just about the moneycontinued the leader. Players want to win the best competitions, and they are here in Europe. Name me a top player, at the best or at the start of his career, who will play in Saudi Arabia. Cristiano Ronaldo, Karim Benzema… We don’t lose these players. They still play football but they are at the end of their career. At the end of their career, some see Saudi Arabia as a way to make money. It remains to be seen whether the Saudis will one day be able to convince stars in their best form.
