Saudi Arabia continues to recruit stars in Europe, and this will inevitably affect the level of its clubs. To the point of doing well in Ligue 1 according to a French specialist in Saudi football.
Football’s Eldorado for the 2020s is known. In the past, the United States was able to attract stars on the decline, China then made incredible investments to recover players who shone in Europe, Qatar and the Emirates tried to attract people, but the Saudi Arabia is moving up a gear. Going for Cristiano Ronaldo, N’Golo Kanté and Karim Benzema immediately puts a huge spotlight on a championship, and it’s far from over. Edouard Mendy, Kalidou Koulibaly, Mohamed Salah or Thomas Partey are very tempted and even among the coaches, things are moving with an offer for Paulo Fonseca from Lille which has just been issued.
Saudi Arabia, in the Top10 World Leagues?
The Saudi championship could therefore go from golden retirement to a real competitive league. This is obviously the wish of the local authorities, who want to see the level of the Saudi Pro League approaching what is best in Europe. The government’s goal is to be in the Top 10 World Leagues. But for some clubs, it’s already done. And in particular the four locomotives of the championship which are Al-Hilal, Al-Nassr, Al-Ittihad and Al-Shabab. These formations could even remain in Ligue 1.
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So says Sofian Kheyari, national technical director of Saudi Arabia and former assistant to Hervé Renard when he was coach. ” We arrived four years ago in Saudi Arabia. I said to those around me: be careful, there is quality in Saudi Arabia. It will become a stronghold of football. And everyone was smiling back then. But today, I get phone calls every day from people who want to try to come to Saudi Arabia. I’m sure it won’t run out of steam. There is a difference in level between the first four teams at the top of the table and the rest. But it is a quality championship. For me, the four big clubs could, for example, play in L1 and maintain themselves. They would have nothing to envy to certain L1 teams.assured the Franco-Algerian coach on Eurosport, who knows however that it will be difficult to confirm, the matches between the Asian and French teams being extremely rare.
