It all started with Cristiano signing for Al Nassr last year. Karim Benzema, the Real Madrid striker and one of the best on the planet currently, decided to move to Al-Ittihad. He is joined by N’Golo Kante who had injuries last season but is still a very decent player on the field.
Ruben Neves from Wolves had interest from different Premier League teams. Not long ago, every other Arsenal fan wanted Mikel to bring him to Emirates, he is such a decent midfielder that he will start in any of the PL team’s midfield bar City. He has moved to Al-Hilal, at the age of 26 for a 3 year contract, and Wolves are getting £47m for him. Chelsea has shifted Hakim Ziyech and Edouard Mendy is expected to leave too. There are rumours of Koulibaly, Mahrez, Aubameyang, Neymar and a bunch of others.
Is it any difference to Chinese Super League or MLS? In short, yes.
China turned out to be a retirement home, so did MLS (and even now, they are). Players who had spent their best days, were moving to MLS and CSL, to earn a big fat check. Kind of a ‘grab whatever you can coz it’s going to be over soon’ round. But what Saudi League has managed differently is that, they have attracted some of the best and in-their-prime players. Though, Ronaldo had a bad season by his standards at Old Trafford, he could have literally walked into any of the teams he wanted. Benzema is still a hot entity in world football. Heck, I would have loved Neves at Arsenal for that amount of money.
Mendy is a Champions League winner. Riyad Mahrez, Bernando Silva, Gundogan, who all just won a trebble at City, are all being linked to different Saudi teams. We even have rumours for one of our own, Thomas Partey. Much like others, Partey is still in his prime and had a brilliant season with us. He still has couple of good years left in him.
What Saudi League has done, is, attract the attractive ones (money helps) and build from there. Any other league like Indian Soccer League are low on budget, they can’t pay millions and though the playing condition is a bit of hostile, it’s not as much as Saudi Arabia here. It’s the bottom up approach for Indian Football. It’s the top down for Saudis. Hear me out, Ngolo Kante is rumoured to have a net worth of 23m euros after playing in one of the richest league, in one of the richest clubs in Chelsea and winning almost everything. He will earn whooping 100m euros in his 4 year contract at the Saudi club. 4 times his net worth!
Is it going to last?
I don’t know. Unlike China and US, they have money and they can keep doing it forever. The lot that’s reaching Saudi this year (and the next year) will decide how famous they get, and how much impact it will have on European Football. English football in particular is rooted enough, and might not have impact in terms of revenue and popularity locally, but there’s a bigger market share outside and Saudi league will compete with it. Some of the neutral fans are invested in players (Ronaldo, Messi e.g.) rather than the club they play for.
What can the English club do?
Nothing, they have opened the pandora box. From an owner, who spent half a billion in one season, and now wants to shift some players and recoup some of that money, has a buyer outside Europe. Players, who were sitting on bench, being paid a whooping 100k/week wages will earn 10x of that. It’s a win-win for the club and the players as of now. It won’t be long before the players whom the club wants to keep, will ask for a transfer for that 10x money. It won’t be long before it further inflates the market because you have to pay substantially more to keep your prized possession from moving to Saudi (and MLS has opened the gate too with Messi and Image/TV rights).
In my honest opinion, it’s worse that the European Super League. Either it will ruin the financials all over, or it will force clubs to go back to grassroot level of developing footballer and instilling in them the club identity over money.
Only positive? For every Neves, there’s a Lukaku.
You are welcome to disagree with what I feel, because I haven’t seen anything like this. I don’t know how it will turn out. I would be more interested in your opinion about why/why not it’s a good thing for football in general and English Premier League in particular.
Interesting times. I understand that Saudi Arabia want to get the WC in 2030. They are building a massive tourist zone on the Red Sea. Just as UAE diversified using oil revenues, Saudi are doing it but with even more money. If it means their human rights record improves then this improves things somewhat but it still feels a bit dodgy.
I don’t have the vision to predict how it’ll affect the PL but it seems undoubtedly inflationary and unlikely to be of benefit to fans. As an Arsenal ST holder my outlay has potentially, effectively gone up 20% with now only 3 home cup ties included on the ST, as opposed to 7, as well as a 6% rise. ‘If you want the best players, you have to pay for it’ is the message.
Will it feel better if Arsenal get a bigger fee for Partey…..probably.
It all feels distasteful though. But what can we do, fuck all I suppose!
Bob
They’ve increased ticket prices (lower tier 6% and upper 4%) but the reduction in cup credits has been knocked off the cost. So you’ll see a small increase on individual ticket costs, if we progress in the CL or FA Cup you can opt out but even if you buy the tickets you’re not looking at a 20% increase.
Of course the chances of progressing under Arteta?
Bob
The Saudi League will not threaten the PL – the reason the PL is so successful is down to you, me and the other hundreds of thousands who turn up to matches every week. The atmosphere at the grounds, the passion, history and rivalry is something they’ll never match.
Marc,
True. It would be just harder to keep the superstars because they will be paid millions more…
They can pay more, they can’t create the culture.
Not sure about that Marc, more than likely the cup ties will be cat A games so minimum £70 a pop so if 4 cup ties that’ll be £280 as well as the 6%. My St without the credits fromlast season would gave Neón £970 so if you do the maths….. painful increase!
Bob
To my mind, Saudi Arabia, Qatar, UAE, Israel and other monied pariah states are not in interested in improving human rights. Grand pricks and football does not a fair society make. What they’re solely interested in is improving their image, not their actual system.
There are still bitter disagreements in Qatar involving construction and security staff who are still unpaid. Dead and injured workers have not been repatriated and the shitstorm goes on. They and Putin and his murderous cabal were not awarded these tournaments as an incentive/gateway to improve – it was because of the fucking huge brown envelopes that Platini, Blatter and Rogge were paid to pervert their organisations’ values.
The Saudi league can go and fuck itself and Ronaldo can kiss my scabby arse. Our own PL is corrupt as fuck but these homicidal theocratic bastards make Richards Scudamore and Masters and all those other money grubbing cunts look like boy scouts.
These are the top 5 five football leagues in terms of sincerity of product, size, importance and meaning to supporters (in order).
Argentina
Brazil
Germany
Ingerland
Italy
Hotly pursued by Japan, Spain, Mexico, Egypt, Poland and France.
I’d rather watch Saudi Arabia’s real national sport on TV than their grubby dalliance with football ie, beheading foreigners and dissidents. At least that’s something they really like along with camel racing and falconry.
There is no way televised football in that country will lead to a more civilised, egalitarian and improved society. Bob – are you in agent provocateur mode mon ami?
ultimately this is far more about tv/streaming rights, as the turnstile gig will always have pre-determined monetary ceiling…so until the Saudi’s invest heavily enough in a combination of established players and blue chip prospects they will never generate enough interest beyond their respective borders…now the fact that they seem to have a bottomless pit of money to do so, is a bit disconcerting, but they don’t appear to have the patience required to do things the right way…just look at LIV golf…btw anyone who doesn’t think the Super League wasn’t actually being financed by the Saudis, through back channels of course, should get their head examined
Bob and Marc
Now that the Southampton Scummers have been relegated, I’m sure that Rishi Sunak, one of the main architects of Britain’s economic collapse, will proclaiming his new love of Arsenal Hotspurs and will be joining you as ST holders at the Emirates. Give the twat a slap on my behalf – please!
Starmer already is a Gooner of course (Marc – he’s as right wing as you are so you’d get on well. 😉). He and I used to go to games together in the 90s.
TRVL
People all over the world watch the PL because of the atmosphere at the grounds – that was there before the superstars who used to move to Italy or Spain. Why did Sky add crowd sounds to matches during lockdown?
Saudi will never manage that when the most common chant is “Allah Akbar”. It might be holy and revered but it can’t beat “the referee’s a wanker” when it comes to making an atmosphere for TV fans.
Kroenke
My old man once said my politics were slightly right wing of Genghis Khan. I didn’t speak to him for over 2 decades, even when he was dying.
I’ve never been that left wing.
Bob
The cup matches won’t likely be cat A – FA Cup matches will be mostly B or C, CL in the latter stages will but that was always the case and the difference in cost from a B (which ST’s used to be costed from) was added to the cost of the following seasons.
You’ll see a 6% increase – if I were you I’d be asking why the club isn’t expecting Arteta to exceed more than the minimum number of matches.
Marc-my comment wasn’t meant to disparage gameday ticketholders, it was just a recognition of the fact that what happens outside the venue has far more importance nowadays…even more so when you take into account the new generation of viewers who appear to be a much more fickle and easily distracted bunch…Cheers
Marc, all CL games will be Cat A, depending on the draw FA Cup could be bevA, b or c
on a more Arsenal-related note, I know Kiwor wants to cater to the fragile ego of his relatively new boss, but him making a point of telling the fans that he chose us over the Hammers doesn’t say much except that maybe we should raise our transfer bar…now at least this summer we appear to be targeting players who’re likewise being coveted by teams of consequence, but that’s a pretty rare occurence over the past two decades…this is why it’s so imperative that we don’t get gazumped on one or multiple fronts during this TW
TRVL
Wasn’t suggesting you were – just my take on the events at the time. What you say about the new generation is going to change football massively. I used to watch to live matches on a Sunday with a Grand Prix in the middle – current generation want goal alerts from a dozen matches. If it spins over into match day attendances it’ll cause huge damage to the PL.
Bob
“all CL games will be Cat A” you’ve already paid for the group stage so how different is that from previous seasons?
I will say this, if we somehow manage to get Rice or Caicedo, preferably the latter, Lavia, either Simons or Barella and Timber, I’ll be elated, especially if we can get rid of Xhaka, Eddie Elneny, Holding and Jorginho, while keeping Balo, ESR and Tierney…what are the chances?? is there actually a percentage lower than 0?? that would represent our best window ever and a clear sign of our intent both now and for years to come
keeping in mind that all of the players mentioned have been discussed during this window, minus Barella, so it’s not like I’m pulling names out of thin air…that would be 5 in, including Havertz, and 5 out
The Saudis could change everything and I fear probably will. Much as they seem to have done with golf or as Indians did with the IPL. When players can bugger off to Saudi and triple their wages why stick around? For authenticity?
A bit like the Qatar World Cup, many of us miss the point. This isn’t about our needs or what we deem the ‘authentic’ match day experience. People who don’t live in football hotbeds want to see the biggest games and the biggest players too. Pre and post match piss ups be damned. They don’t care about our songs that they mostly don’t get, we do. So we think what we want or are accustomed to is important.
In the West, we spent the whole World Cup moaning about South Asian migrant workers, no alcohol in stadia etc, in Qatar the crowds reflected, for once, the global majority. 1 in 8 people globally, maybe more are of South Asian descent, that was reflected in the World Cup crowds. They weren’t wailing about migrant workers. They wanted to see big names in big games.
In the four previous world cups I’ve been to it was the same old demographic give or take. Mostly middle aged Westerners with a bit of colour provided by the more affluent or devoted non Westerners.
If the Saudis buy all the stars people will go to the games. We might not, it’s not about us and what we think makes a good matchday experience.
At some point, Saudi could pay to have their globetrotter teams in the UCL. I saw a kid in a Hilal shirt playing in Highbury Fields yesterday, I’m just too old to ‘get it’.
Uefa will bend the rules for money much like Fifa did and will do. This isnt about what we want and hasn’t been for a long time. There’s a strata of clubs that don’t need to make money. If ManC’s sanctions for rule breaking are too severe for them, what’s to stop them jetting off and joining the Saudi league?Fifa rules, Saudi FA rules? The Saudi FA will change them and dare Fifa to stop them. Or pay Fifa off?
At this stage, I can see a world of possibilities, not good, not bad, just not what I’m used to, and there’s nothing the powers that be could do to stop them. If the Saudis want to create their own Club World Cup to rival Fifa’s in 2025 and offer all the possible participants billions to enter what’s to stop them. Fifa sanctions? They’ll all just leave and join the PIF Masters league or European Super League if that’s a better way of branding it.
I fear the genie’s out the bottle and it’s a question of who breaks ranks for a few Riyals first. The formation of the Prem was all about making money, the initial interest in the ESL was the same. We’re only haggling about the price now I fear.
My ST seemed cheaper than I expected this year. The 6% won’t bite unless we do well. I’ll worry about that next summer.
From the LG Poster MidwestGun which made me laugh to no end but perhaps has some truth to it.
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“Yep, money talks. Although, going to Saudi … is still the black hole of who gives a shit. Your career is basically over. Nobody cares who beats who and who wins. Al-Hilal v Al-Ittihad v Al-Shabab v Al Batin.. v Al Roker.
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OK I made that last one up, (he is an American weather presenter currently the weather anchor on NBC’s Today). The SPL will die a similar death of boredom at some point when the billionaire backers realize nobody cares anymore and Clubs will fold if they can’t keep 20 Clubs competitive enough to have a League. Especially when there is no built in large market local fanbases.”
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Perhaps building up the SPL is in anticipation of getting the 2030 WC and giving the Saudis some credibility. It will produce a similar push back that Qatar got. But the corrupt officials at FIFA will make sure that their palms will be greased.
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Regards the EPL. Their massive money income is from the TV deals and the Athletic reports that for the first time the overseas TV right £5.05billion has surpassed the UK rights £5billion. Clearly that is where the money is being made.
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However, we all experienced during the pandemic, football matches without fans are not really football matches, it was abysmal to watch and there was no longer a home versus away advantage. So if you don’t have sold out venues you got problems, especially if you need to change the mind of a referee.
Interesting article in the Athletic “Mendes sorting Ruben Neves’ shock Al Hilal move means there will be a longer-term plan”. A quick quote:
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“Neves deal doesn’t just have the fingerprints of agent Jorge Mendes all over it, it has his DNA, his internet search history and a screengrab of him from CCTV.
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Mendes’ clients also include Ronaldo and Nuno, who has just won the Saudi with Al Ittihad (the club Benzema and Kante have joined). He is making moves in an expanding, extremely wealthy league and we can say with certainty that Neves will not be the last client he takes there.”
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So you have now agents involved in moving their clients there in their prime for perhaps 1 or 2 years and then have them returning to Europe once certain clubs have their finances sorted. It has always been about the most money for the players and the agents, end of story.
Ambarish-good on you for venturing into new territory…so long as players, still within their respective primes, elect to go where the football most matters instead of opting for a substantially larger bag, they will never dramatically disrupt the current Euro-centric footballing landscape
now things could get a bit dicey if they can somehow find a way to enter the Champions League equation…it might seem far-fetched but never say never when it involves literal truck loads of cash…maybe they’ll steal a page from their LIV model, which has already started on the recruitment side, then hope that if enough players of consequence enter the fray that they will strike fear into the hearts of those within the UEFA hierarchy…I’ve already witnessed the odd highlights/lowlights on the tele in my neck of the world since CR signed on, which didn’t happen when China tried a very similar recruitment model
maybe they’ll even organize a similar, off-season at first, tournament with astronomical cash prizes and invite only the best and brightest from across Europe and beyond…now not everyone will accept the invitation, but there will be those who will be enticed by the monies involved…once a couple dominoes fall, others will invariably follow…the money alone will increase the intensity and the Saudi’s will spare no expense to cater to the players/teams involved so as to further minimize any potential hesitancies
after a few years they will have established a sizeable following across the globe, so much so that the usual suspects will engage in bidding wars for the viewing rights…that’s when they will twist the proverbial knife and threaten UEFA with the notion that they’re considering pushing for an in-season tournament, which will pay the teams involved a king’s ransom for their continued commitment…at which point UEFA could choose to adopt a more PGA-like “if you can’t beat them join them” model…so instead of going head-to-head they will offer them a handful of qualifier spots or maybe they’ll just give them the ones they took away from Russia…you just never know
Killroy-interesting agent take on the Saudi situation…the money-hungry side piece in the footballing equation is undoubtedly the most corruptible entity, which makes them so dangerous in the grand scheme of things
Most of the players have probably no idea what life in Saudi Arabia will be like, I pity the wives and daughters as they are 2nd class citizens there and it will stifle their growth. If the husbands just go there by themselves then the children will basically be raised in a one parent family for they will have little time. For the sake of excess money you may ruin your family.
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The money grabbing is exemplified by the Club World Cup to be held in 2025 in the USA which again gives no concern for players welfare and health in a fake competition for the sake of more money in FIFA’s coffers. This sport is turning me more and more off.
Ambarish, it’s not easy to report without bias on the middle eastern ideals of joining the western world, be it through sport or agenda setting oil production. Golf and football will never have the same appeal globally because people have consciences and most are guided by them whether through religion or simple belief in karma; therefore, Saudi money in the long run will only buy them stars and muslim fans.
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If the Saudi’s dreams of their top footballing super league, they are welcome to it. I’ll go and watch grass roots and other levels of football not having anything remotely to do with with people who condemn human rights as part of their culture.
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There’s that, family and music and other interests for junior & me.
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Why is the PL the best league in the world? Is it the pace or physicality? Is the the number of stars playing here? I believe that is a part of what makes the PL the most revered football league globally, but the real reason is: HISTORY! This is where the game started and was adopted by the working class and toffs with Eaton being an early club if the TV series is to be believed.
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Football is what got many Europeans through both world wars; rival tribalism would melt into comradeship against Germany or other foes. In England the working class ruled football on the terraces replete in cloth caps fresh from a week down the mines and in the factories. In short, football became a British institution.
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This is what British football was to the masses that’s been passed down, and watered down some might say today, but the roots are still intact. With the same way as the super league stirred football’s heritage in uniting fans against losing their history and their choice more importantly.
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The Saudis want to create a game that the world admires and follows; however, the rest of the world want the Saudis to change their cultural laws in favour of peoples’ human rights and it’s there that never the twain shall meet, and middle eastern football will be just that.
The world super league is inevitable but it won’t be run by the Saudis and their money too many American owners in the sport for that to happen.
However, looking at it another way middle eastern countries are buying our PL clubs, so what’s to stop all the PL clubs being owned by the middle east in the future?
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Then what happens?
Killroy-the one silver lining might be that Leagues across Europe might need to do a much better job listening and catering to the concerns of their respective fanbases, especially those who’ve relied too heavily on fair-weather fans or the more casual observers of the sport…for far too long, in their quest to reach previously untapped fans, Leagues/teams have oft-times ignored their bread and butter fans, so maybe this will have a positive impact on that particular short-sighted practice…I wouldn’t hold my breath though
Tony
You switch to another sport. Because of the pandemic I have started to watch Rugby matches. Got access to a P2P tracker “Across The Tasman” where you can request Rugby matches from years ago and I started to watch the Lions Tours 2017, The WC 2015, 2019 and other Southern and Northern Hemisphere tests and fell in love with it. I still only know about 30% of the rules but it is super exciting.
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Here is why I mentioned it. The equivalent of the EPL in Rugby is the Top 14 league in France where all the best players in the world play. A massive TV contract, sold out venues and a history to go with it. The matches on TV are with the French language and then you have networks that broadcast with the English language. I will still watch Arsenal’s games and a few other important matches but my interest is waning.
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I am seriously looking into a decent provider in the US for the Top 14 as the one that has it now is shit, the other tournaments I have covered. WC 2023 in France to be stellar, 6 Nations every year, Premiership, URC and Southern Hemisphere tournaments. The stadium atmospheres where you are moving to is absolutely fantastic and there are teams that are really good as I mentioned to you in the past.
Killroy
As you know I do like rugby union at international level. When I was in the UK the game was still amateur then semi pro, so I only played until my 30s when time permitted.
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When we finally get to France, I’ll look into then rugby near where we buy or build. Always enjoy the 6-nations and SH tournaments. Life will be busy enough. 🙂
How about a little taste of pre match activity. The Haka for the 2011 Rugby WC Final between the All Blacks and France it has had 73M views on YouTube.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yiKFYTFJ_kw&ab_channel=WorldRugby
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The Haka is so great that the french instinctively make a Maginot line