_Ronaldo, Neymar, Benzema... Saudi professional soccer that became a world-class big league
Saudi teams invest 875 billion won in recruiting players from European leagues
Saudi Arabia's professional football is attracting top-notch star players and proudly putting its name on the ranks of the world's big leagues. 바카라사이트
As Brazil's flagship player Neymar joined Al-Hilal, a Saudi Arabian club, on the 16th, the Saudi Arabia League has become proud of its name value comparable to most European leagues.
Cristiano Ronaldo (Portugal) joined Al Nasr in January of this year, and Karim Benzema (France), who won Ballon d'Or last year, wore Al Ittihad's uniform in June.
On the 16th, when the news of Neymar's transfer was reported, AFP classified major players who recently headed to the Saudi league by grade.
First of all, the 'star' class, which consists of players who are familiar to football fans by name, includes Ronaldo, Benzema, and Neymar, as well as N'Golo Kante (France), Fabinho (Brazil), Riyad Mahrez (Algeria), and Sadio Mane (Senegal). ) was named.
Also, players who are somewhat past their prime have recently signed with Saudi Arabia league teams such as Marcello Brozovic (Croatia), Jordan Henderson (England), Roberto Firmino (Brazil), Edouard Mendy, and Kalidou Koulibaly (both Senegal).
Relatively young players were classified as 'Rising Talent'.
Players in their 20s, including Saeko Popana (Cote d'Ivoire), Sergei Milinkovic Savic (Serbia), Ruben Neves (Portugal), and Alan Saint-Maximin (France), refused the European stage and boarded a plane to Saudi Arabia. was
The names of the directors are also not cheap.
Director Steven Gerrard took the helm of R.E.T.Park, and head coach Slaven Bilic, who served as the head coach of West Ham, became head coach of Alphatech.
Al-Hilal, which Neymar joined, is coached by Jorge Jesus, who led Benfica and Fenerbahce.
Reuters reported that "Saudi Arabia league teams spent more than 600 million euros (about 875 billion won) on player recruitment ahead of the start of the 2023-2024 season."
In order of transfer fee, Neymar is estimated at 90 million euros, or 131.5 billion won in Korean money, and Malcolm (Brazil), who moved from St. Petersburg, Russia to Al-Hilal, also incurred a transfer fee of 60 million euros.
Ronaldo and Benzema contracted with Saudi teams when their contracts with their previous teams ended or were released, so there was no separate transfer fee.
It is estimated that Neves, who played with Hwang Hee-chan in Wolverhampton in the English Premier League, also moved to Al-Hilal for a transfer fee of 55 million euros.
The 2023-2024 Saudi League season kicked off on the 11th and will run until the end of May 2024._