Only the beginning of the football madness: the Saudis have knocked out almost two billion francs

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On January 1, a new era began. The move of global superstar Cristiano Ronaldo has really put Saudi Arabia on the football map. And the Portuguese were just the beginning. Since the beginning of the year, one superstar after another has been lured into the desert. Money doesn’t matter.

If you add up the transfer fee, the fixed money, the salary including bonuses, advertising deals and the share of the image rights, the Saudi clubs will spend about CHF 1.7 billion over the next three years. For just nine players and a star coach.

Ruben Neves shattered previous record

A large part of this amount is divided between Cristiano Ronaldo and Karim Benzema. Thanks to an initial fee of 98 million, CR7 has earned a total of approximately 587 million francs in two and a half years. Benzema will receive about the same amount in three years. Coach Steven Gerrard is one of the highest paid coaches in the world with a traded annual salary of more than nine million francs, but earns the least of the Saudi newcomers.

In five cases, Saudi Pro League clubs also paid hefty transfer fees. The Portuguese Ruben Neves stands out with a transfer fee of 55 million: he is the most expensive player ever to move to Saudi Arabia.

Just the beginning of the madness?

There was a lot of money in Saudi football before this summer, but since the deal with Ronaldo they have ventured into new realms. Before this summer, only ten players had been paid for fees of ten million or more, while there were five deals in the last month alone. Powered by the Saudi Public Investment Fund (PIF), which has invested in the al-Nassr, al-Hilal, al-Ittihad and al-Ahli clubs, one star after another is being hunted at an almost frightening pace. But other teams can also invest a lot of money, as Gerrard’s new employer al-Ettifaq proves.

As surreal as the $1.7 billion spending may seem, it may just be the beginning of the madness. With Man City’s three-time winner Bernardo Silva, Bayern flop Sadio Mane or PSG star Marco Verrati – to name but three – other high-priced stars will be lured to Saudi Arabia thanks to exorbitant salaries. The next billion marks will be cracked soon.

Source : Blick