Topic: Saudi Professional League 2023/2024 - page 708. (Read 118590 times)

From what I see Benzema, even though he is a great player, he must have analyzed his injury history and concluded that it is better to go to a lighter league and as they are paying him a very high salary, so without a doubt that it is worth it for Benzema to be in Al -Ittihad, who is a much better team than the team Ronaldo is in, has a good coach and I don't know if they will keep the current coach, I'm talking about Nuno Espírito Santo who is Portuguese and made Al-Ittihad become champion . Busquets and Sergio Ramos are saying that they are going to the same team as Ronaldo, honestly that would be a good move

but the problem with ronaldo's team is the lack of a good coach, so far i haven't heard anything about hiring a coach for ronaldo's team, because from what i see good coaches prefer to stay in europe even with a salary that is not equal as for arabia, this is something very strange given that many coaches are already old, but as they do not run in the field, it makes sense to stay in europe to achieve great things that would fill their curriculum and mark their names in history

Here's list of players that have been linked to the arabian club

1. Benzema
2. Ramos
3. Messi
4. Busquets
5. Modric
6. Who's next?

Benzema has been deciding to follow ronaldo to go to the ittihad while modric has been also receiving very big contract from unnamed club. I hope that will be revealed soon like benzema which has been getting offer from ittihad.

So many players with big names come to the spl. That's good. Messi is likely the next one.

People keep thinking that Al-Nassr got him so that they would win championship, I always said that it wasn't about that at all. They lost by a hefty 5 point difference even though they were ahead when he got there, everyone who tried to defend him said "but his teammates are bad!!" when in fact those teammates without him ended up being leader before him, and lost when he got there, I think it was him that caused some disparity in the team without a doubt.

However, this was a move by the whole league, and the rich Saudi people, those wealthy people aim at making Saudi league top 10 in the world quickly, and their future goal is to be in the top 5, after all they have premier league and la liga which nobody can pass, Bundesliga is good and Serie is good but ligue 1 only has PSG, maybe they can pass that.

That's future though, they aim at top 10 and Ronaldo was the first step for that. They may overspend and get players that are famous and old for now and just be better. It is not just for one team, Ronaldo could have been at Ittihad and it is the same situation, the goal is to fill the whole league with great players.

It is possible, if there are several star players who will play in the Saudi Pro League next season. maybe, Ramos will be in demand by several Arab League clubs because it is certain that he will end this season with PSG. it could also be, Busquets if offered by big clubs in this league. yes, there are many possibilities that could happen. But so far only two stars have had offers to join Al Hilal and Al Ittihad.
For Messi, there is no certainty of news. But if you refer to several reports, one of which is Fabrizio Romano said, Messi will determine his career in the near future. If in the end Barcelona still has problems with FFP. This means that Messi has the potential to join Al Hilal.

In other news, Ancelotti on Karim Benzema and reports of a deal with the Saudi club : "I agree with Karim, the Internet is not a reality. Benzema has one more year contract with Real Madrid until 2024 and we have no doubts". However, in his statement, Benzema did not confirm that he would stay with Los Blancos. referring to another Romano tweet, Karim benzema: "stay or leave Real Madrid? now, I'm here.. we have Saturday's game. maybe after that, we'll find out for sure if he stays, or, very interesting to wait.

You shouldn't think so. Look at Barcelona - a big brand, big achievements and the club is almost bankrupt. At the same time, they cannot significantly reduce the salaries of the players, as they will simply start to scatter to more solvent clubs. The presence of super offers from the Saudis will only warm up the salary market and intensify competition for players. It is clear that the Saudis can not compete with Europe in any way in the football sense, but warming up the salary market, they (unwittingly) can cause many clubs in Europe to simply go bankrupt (or be forced to sell players).

Even so, Luka Modric has stated firmly in an interview, that he wants to stay at Real Madrid. So a club from Saudi Arabia that wants Modric to join, I don't think will get him at this time. Regarding European clubs, I don't think European clubs will feel too threatened by the breakthroughs made by Saudi Arabian clubs like today. Because even so, clubs in Europe still have class and quality that is very difficult for any country's soccer league to suppress. Because Europe has long been a storehouse of football and has given birth to many star players. In Europe, the facilities and teaching that are applied in football are very good and of good quality. Even from the past until now, many young players have dreamed and aspired to play in European clubs.
So it's not surprising that Europe won't budge and vibrate with the breakthroughs made by clubs from Saudi Arabia. And in essence, European clubs will never be empty of star players, because there will continue to be lots of great players coming from all over the world.

I hope that more star players will enter the Saudi Pro League. At least there are already many star players who are now getting high offers with super expensive salaries by several clubs from the Arab League. Al-ittihad seems to want Benzema and Al-Hilal seems to be eyeing Messi and Luka Modric seems to be targeted by Club Al-Ahli.

Well, if in the next season these legendary players enter the Arab League. then I'm also pretty sure there will be more young players who will also be interested in getting into the Arab League. High salary will certainly be the main attraction. and it looks like next season the competition will be even hotter. because most likely there will be more top European players who enter this league.

I agree, I mean why would he care if he comes off the bench, dude is 37+ years old and he has achieved all he could and he could spend a season or two being on the bench sometimes, get in later in the games sometimes and even start some games, and that would be good enough to retire on.

If he can do that at Real Madrid out of all teams, that means he stayed healthy and good for a long enough time. Hell even Ronaldo and Messi would be bench players and maybe not even find places in that team so finding his spot there at that age is definitely great. Let them get Kai or Jude or whoever, Modric would be good. However, Ittihad may get Benzema, which would be insane if they can actually do that, it would help them big time for scoring goals, dude is still great.

Ronaldo is a brand a sensation. He has great fan following and when he joined Alnasar he has been the great attrection and brought a great joy in the life of Arab kids and people belonging to all phases of lives - now when Messi will join SPL that will be a great force for sure

The debate about the old players who are rumored to be going to the Saudi Pro League seems to be answered one by one. Karim Benzema is reported to have extended his contract at Real Madrid until next year so he will spend one more season at Real Madrid maybe after that he will go to the Saudi Pro League https://www.transfermarkt.com/new-extension-until-2024-karim-benzema-set-to-stay-at-real-madrid-for-one-more-season/view/news/422444
Luca Modric is also certain to extend his contract for a year at Real Madrid https://www.dailymail.co.uk/sport/football/article-12054067/Luka-Modric-Real-Madrid-reach-total-agreement-contract-renewal-sign-2024.html

while Lionel Messi has no recent news although he has confirmed that he will not extend his contract at PSG but has not yet announced the next club, and the latest is Sergio Ramos who has decided to leave PSG reportedly going to the Arab League and it seems that Ramos will be more certain of his arrival because he has not announced his retirement so he still needs a club to keep playing.

Ok but I think you are more of an exception than the rule. Watching the entire league and knowing all the teams because a 38 year old Cristiano plays there is not the rule. I assume that most people pay a little bit of attention, paid more attention in the beginning but now also realized that the SPL hasn't really changed. Ronaldo is there and even when there is drama I noticed on this forum that the discussion gets less significant. His club was closer to the top without him.



I absolutely understand what is owned by whom and still one of the most valuable aspect of European soccer is the deeply rooted culture. You won't make baseball the number 1 sport in Europe and you won't make soccer the number 1 sport in USA. You can buy the fastest camels and start a camel racing league in Europe, but it won't go anywhere compared to soccer.

Soccer has already been the most popular sport in Saudi Arabia and yet it is where it is. Money can do a lot, but if you can't copy and preserve the culture it will unsustainable in the long run. A Saudi buying a club in Europe has more fun than a Saudi trying to build a European club in Saudi Arabia. Do the maths.

Your last point is about the Chinese Asian market and yes that is a very valid consideration. But there is still some cultural identification and that is why European players really never liked going to Chinese clubs because we are so different and that is ok. That is absolutely ok. We are more international and globalized, but you won't be able to import sumo ringing from Japan to Europe and have the people in Europe cheer as much for the sport as they do in Japan. What do you think where the Japanese professionals were to prefer to perform? Europe or Japan? If the money is big enough, they go to Europe, but it won't be sustainable because they grew up their whole life in a different place, inherited culture and attitudes and food and everything.

You can't just buy one Messi per team and say you have a great league. Just as an example, try to calculate what it would cost in salaries to build a 2015 Real Madrid and Barcelona in the SPL to at least have a clasico that the whole world will be watching because it is the highest quality soccer you can get from clubs. Then you need persistence, so let's say you build those two clubs and Atletico to keep it extra exciting and all three clubs for 7 years. Only salaries.

Not only Messi, but now Benzema has been linked with Al Ittihad. imagine, there are three top Saudi Pro League clubs that have big stars if in the end Messi and Benzema are willing to accept the offer. however, Al Hilal's offer was more fantastic than the salary Ronaldo received. the question is whether this competition will be more competitive.

However, when viewed from another perspective the competition will be increasingly fierce. Ronaldo with Al Nassrnya, Messi with Al Hilal and Benzema with Al Ittihad. these three teams, will compete strictly in the race for the Saudi Pro League trophy. Unfortunately, what we are discussing is still not certain. Messi, reportedly will give his decision in the near future and especially after his contract with PSG ends.
on the other hand, Benzema did not reject the offer from Al Ittihad. but it seems he needs time to think, even as Fabrizio Romano said in his tweet. Benzema is discussing it with his family and he will make a decision soon. but before that, he still has one game to go in La Liga. well, in the next few weeks, it looks like we will get an official decision from these players. so, let's just wait.

I haven't seen any past or present interview where Luka Modric has openly said he wants to remain at the Santiago Bernabeu and see off his playing career and I don't even think he has ever said such Luka Modric is a player who loves new challenges.
As a footballer, he's won everything he's supposed to win at Real Madrid and as his playing career draws to an end because of his age, I think a good financial package will definitely lure him to Saudi Arabia. Saudi Arabian league isn't as popular as the any of the Europe big five leagues but after they got the services of Cristiano Ronaldo, many football fans all over the world has switched their attention to there and that's why they want they want to get more high-profile players to help them boost the popularity and quality of the league. I believe in the next 10 years, Saudi Arabian league would be a household name among football faithfuls all over the world

I understand your point and hence said signing CR7 was the first step to make the Saudi leagues known globally, before that i never watched any of the matches nor had any idea about the teams but now i am following the entire league and signing big names is the first step and more big time players will be moving to Saudi as they have the money.

You need to understand that majority of the big English and European clubs are now owned by Arab countries like PSG, Manchester City, Aston Villa and Saudi's owned Newcastle United and Sheffield United. Common theme is that they have the money and if they are willing to give huge offers do you think that the young talents wont be signing with them. It is a long term plan and it is a matter of time that they start grooming youngsters like the rest of the European clubs and at the end of the day money talks and they have plenty of them.

Another aspect is that, you are just thinking about European Football fans, majority of the global population is in Asia and if they could attract the Asian crowd it is a much bigger audience.

But in reality, Al Khaleej was able to play well in the first half by winning from many statistics but the result at half time Al Khaleej trailed 0-1. But yes, in the end or in the second half Al Khaleej was able to maximize every chance he had, so Al Khaleej could win with a good score 3-1. With this result, at least Al Khaleej can survive to continue playing in the Saudi Professional League next season, because Al Khaleej also avoided relegation.

Abha only had possession in the back and then before it got to the Al-Khaleej defense, they lost the ball. not many chances to get Abha. making the fight quite difficult for them to win.
Al-Khaleej did lose momentum early on, but they made up for it after they fell behind. 3 goals to reply to Abha's 1 goal was enough for their victory in the last game.

Some players are not moved by money and I guess Luka Modric is in that category. He might not be as strong as he used to be but Carlo Ancelotti wants to use his experience to build Jude Bellingham. Young players are groomed by well-experienced players that's why some coaches find them valuable. Maybe at the end of next season, he might move to the big money-spending Saudi League. The Saudi league needs more than top players to develop. More younger players also need to be attracted to the league to make it more competitive and exciting. But one of the barriers is their religious and cultural belief. Players will always be discouraged by the restrictions they will face in the league.

It's like sending Vitali Klitschko to a Chinese boxing league and believing that the whole world will start watching Chinese boxing like addicts. That's nonsense. I followed a couple of games from the SPL since Ronaldo has been there, but only some of the highlight summaries and never whole games. My interest in seeing how and what he does there dropped in an instant because it's not exciting. It is not interesting when he scores a free kick or makes a great goal. It was interesting when he played for Madrid or Manchester United. Something was on the line and I admired him for scoring goals against the best teams in the world. Now it's more like checking it out only to know what's going on. A bit like reading the newspaper but I am reading more boring parts of the newspaper than I check out how Ronaldo is doing in the SPL and I like soccer a lot.

In Saudi Professional League Al-Khaleej vs Abha these two teams came to the field to play. But Al-Khaleej won the match by scoring 3 goals but 1 player of Al-Khaleej team got red cards in 52 minutes. Abha did not perform well in this match.  But 1 goal was scored by S. Al-Selouli in 25 minutes. After the opening, poor performance started. Al-Khaleej team player A. E. Feitosa scored 2 goals alone. And L. Souza scored 1 goal.

Luka Modric aspires to extend his contract with Real Madrid; the Croatian international's ultimate ambition is to retire at the Santiago Bernabeu. Saudi Arabian teams have made major bids for big-name footballers. I see what they're trying to accomplish by bringing in great names for the sake of popularity, but football fans don't recognize their league because they believe it's not as vital or competitive as the English Premier League, La Liga, Seria A, Bundesliga, and Ligue One. Saudi Arabia top clubs are eager to include the Saudi Arabia league among the elite leagues, but it will take some time before FIFA accepts it.