SAUDI PRO LEAGUE
Ahmed Musa named among Saudi Pro League’s 10 biggest transfers before Cristiano Ronaldo
Cristiano Ronaldo’s move to Al Nassr in January 2023 signalled a sea change in the transfer market.
From Karim Benzema to Neymar to N’Golo Kante and more, the top 30 transfers in the entire history of Saudi Arabian football have taken place in the two years since Ronaldo left Manchester United.
But what did the Saudi Pro League look like before the sudden influx of superstars from Europe? We’ve checked back on the Saudi Pro League’s 10 most expensive transfers prior to Ronaldo and checked in on where they’re at today.
10. Yahya Al-Shehri – €9.4million – Al-Nassr
This one is actually an internal transfer.
Al-Shehri was capped 75 times by Saudi Arabia between 2009 and 2019 and has spent almost his entire career in his home country, save for a brief loan spell at La Liga side Leganes where he made a grand total of zero appearances.
A product of Al-Ettifaq’s academy, he’d notched over a hundred appearances for his boyhood club before his big-money move to Riyadh’s Al-Nassr in 2013.
He spent eight years at Al-Nassr and won three league titles there. Nowadays he’s turning out for Al-Riyadh alongside former Championship stalwart Yoann Barbet.
9. Nicolae Stanciu – €10million – Al-Ahli
After a reported falling out with Slavia Prague manager Zdenek Scasny, Al-Ahli swooped to sign the Romania international in January 2019.
But he lasted just half a season out in Saudi Arabia before returning to Slavia Prague, by which point his old boss had conveniently departed. Financial issues were reportedly behind Al-Ahli allowing their star asset to leave so soon.
The winger spent another three seasons in the Czech capital before moving on to Chinese Super League outfit Wuhan Three Towns. He’s now back in Saudi Arabia, turning out for a Damac side coached by his Romanian compatriot Cosmin Contra.
8. Aleksandar Prijovic – €10million – Al-Ittihad
Big Mitro wasn’t the first expensive Serbian called Aleksandar to rock up in the Saudi Pro League.
You might (not) remember Prijovic struggling for opportunities for Parma, Derby County, Yeovil and Northampton back in the latter half of the noughties.
The striker enjoyed a nomadic career since those early days, with short-lived stints in Switzerland, Sweden, Turkey, Poland and Greece before his €10million move to Al-Ittihad in 2019.
He notched 15 goals in 49 Saudi Pro League appearances and moved on to Australian A-League side Western United FC in 2021.
Prijovic, 34, is presumably now retired, having not had a club since he was released by Western United back in 2023.
7. Igor Coronado – €10.1million – Al-Ittihad
A Brazilian playmaker that developed his skills in MK Dons’ academy as a teenager. Yes, really.
Coronado never quite made the grade in Milton Keynes but brushed himself and kicked on with humble beginnings at non-league Banbury United in Oxfordshire. From there he went on to play in Malta with Floriana and fallen giants Palermo in Serie B.
In subsequent years, he won league titles in the United Arab Emirates and Saudi Arabia, having moved from Sharjah to Al-Ittihad in 2021.
Nowadays he’s back in Brazil with Corinthians. Not a bad post-script for a kid who couldn’t get a game at MK Dons.
6. Djaniny – €10.2million – Al-Ahli
A pretty cool story, this one.
Djaniny was born and raised in Santa Cruz, Cape Verde and moved to Portugal at the age of 18 to study renewable energy.
The forward soon found an amateur club and demonstrated enough talent to get picked up by Uniao Leiria (once managed by Jose Mourinho) and Benfica’s reserve team. He even made his international debut in 2012 and went on to play 35 times for Cape Verde.
After peaking at Mexican outfit Santos Laguna, where he spent four years, Al-Ahli sanctioned a big-money move in 2018. He later spent three years with Trabzonspor, with whom he won a Turkish Super Lig title in 2021-22, and has since returned to Saudi Arabia with Al Fateh.
5. Souza – €10.2million – Al-Ahli
Before genuine footballing royalty started turning up in the Saudi Pro League over the past couple of years, it was home to a number of Brazilians you’ve likely never heard of.
Josef de Souza Dias belongs in that category, although he earned three caps for Brazil in the immediate wake of their 2014 World Cup heartbreak and represented clubs including Porto, Fenerbahce and Besiktas.
His stint in the Saudi Pro League actually came between his stints with the two big Istanbul rivals between the years of 2018 and 2020.
After a short-lived spell with a third Istanbul club – Basaksehir – the centre-back returned to his boyhood club Vasco da Gama last year.
4. Giuliano – €10.5million – Al-Nassr
Another Brazilian, attacking midfielder Giuliano (14 caps for the Selecao) joined Al-Nassr in 2018 after a career on the fringes of the European mainstream – Dnipro Dnipropetrovsk, Zenit Saint Petersburg and Fenerbahce among the stops.
Like Souza, he left Saudi for Istanbul Basaksehir, before going on to play over a hundred times for Corinthians.
The 34-year-old is now a free agent, having just left newly promoted Santos to make room for another ex Saudi Pro League old boy.
3. Pity Martinez – €16million – Al-Nassr
The attacking midfielder has tended to win silverware wherever he’s been, from a Copa Argentina with Huracan to a glut of trophies across two stints with River Plate and a U.S. Open Cup with Atlanta United.
But a solitary Saudi Super Cup is a relatively underwhelming return from his two-and-a-half years at Al Nassr, given the sizeable fee they paid Atlanta for his signature.
Now he’s back at River Plate, once again working under former Al-Ittihad coach Marcelo Gallardo, who got the best out of him the first time around at the Monumental.
2. Ahmed Musa – €16.5million – Al-Nassr
There’s no greater statement that things have changed in the Saudi Pro League that notorious Leicester City flop Musa was once its record signing.
At the time of writing, the €16.5million fee that Al-Nassr paid the Foxes back in 2018 only makes him the league’s 44th most expensive signing.
The former Nigeria stalwart is still only 32 years of age but he’s fallen off the footballing map in recent years. He left Al-Nassr in 2020 and is now into his third stint with Nigerian side Kano Pillars.
1. Matheus Pereira – €18million – Al-Hilal
One of the most talented players to grace the Championship in recent years, Pereira played a talismanic role in West Brom’s promotion to the Premier League in 2019-20 and was just about the only good thing about them in their miserable 2020-21 relegation campaign.
Given how well he’d done in the top flight for an otherwise limited side, the Brazilian playmaker had no shortage of suitors when the Baggies returned to the Championship.
Rather than move to another English or European side, Pereira made the surprising decision to sign for Al-Hilal – back then a bolt out of the blue.
His time with the club was short and sweet, yielding a Saudi Pro League title, a Saudi Super Cup and the Asian Champions League during his one and only full season out there.
After a loan away to UAE side Al Wahda, Pereira signed for Cruzeiro on a permanent deal in 2023 and remains with the Brazilian club today.
-Planet Football
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Portugal forward Cristiano Ronaldo will travel to Spain for rehabilitation after sustaining a hamstring injury, Saudi Pro League leaders Al-Nassr’s coach Jorge Jesus said on Friday.
The 41-year-old, who has netted 21 goals in 22 games this season in the SPL, was injured in a 3-1 win over Al-Fayha on Saturday.
“After examining Ronaldo’s injury, it became clear that he needs a period of rest and treatment, so we decided to send him to Spain,” Jesus told a press conference.
“The medical staff diagnosed Ronaldo’s condition and confirmed that he is unable to take part in tomorrow’s match or the following one (against Al‑Khaleej)”.
It remains unclear whether the five-times Ballon d’Or winner will be fit to participate in Portugal’s friendlies against Mexico on March 29 and the U.S. on April 1.
-Reuters
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Karim Benzema has joined Al-Hilal, the Saudi Pro League leaders announced on Monday, following the termination of his contract with Al-Ittihad.
Local media reported that the move to Al-Hilal came after Benzema rejected an offer to extend his contract with Al-Ittihad. The former French striker had missed the team’s previous two league matches.
“Al-Hilal signed French star Karim Benzema on a free transfer to represent the football team for one and a half years,” the Saudi club said in a statement.
Benzema had a successful spell with the Jeddah-based Al-Ittihad, leading them to the league title and the King’s Cup last season. It was the first domestic double in Al‑Ittihad’s history.
“This journey gave me a lot, both personally and professionally,” Benzema, who joined Al-Ittihad on a free transfer in 2023 after 14 years with Real Madrid, said on X.
“I leave with my head held high, proud to have worn these colours and of everything we shared.”
The former Real Madrid striker, 38, scored 16 goals in 21 matches for Al-Ittihad in all competitions this season.
Al-Hilal sit top of the league standings with 47 points, one point ahead of Cristiano Ronaldo’s Al-Nassr. Al-Ittihad are sixth with 34 points.
-Reuters
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Cristiano Ronaldo has revealed that his long and illustrious playing career will come to an end “soon,” admitting that while stepping away from football will be emotionally difficult, he has been preparing for the transition for years.
The 40-year-old Al Nassr striker, who holds the record as football’s all-time top scorer with 952 goals for club and country, spoke candidly about his future during an interview on Piers Morgan Uncensored published on Tuesday.
“Soon,” Ronaldo said when asked when he plans to retire. “I think I will be prepared. It will be very, very difficult. But I’ve been preparing for my future since I was 25, 26, 27 years old. I believe I’ll be ready to handle it.”
The five-time Ballon d’Or winner, who has previously set himself a target of reaching 1,000 career goals, acknowledged that nothing will ever match the thrill of scoring. “Nothing compares to the adrenaline you get from scoring a goal,” he said. “But everything has a beginning and an end. I’ll have more time for myself, for my family, and to raise my kids.”
Ronaldo, who enjoyed two spells at Manchester United, also expressed his sadness over the club’s decline in recent years. Despite his difficult departure from Old Trafford three years ago, he said he still follows United’s fortunes.
“I’m sad because Manchester United is one of the most important clubs in the world and a club I still have in my heart,” he said. “But they don’t have a structure. I hope that changes soon, because the club’s potential is amazing.”
Reflecting on United’s struggles — including last season’s 15th-place finish, their worst since 1973–74 — Ronaldo added: “They’re not on a good path. And it’s not just about the coach or the players. In my opinion, he (manager Ruben Amorim) is doing his best. But what can you do? Miracles are impossible.”
As Ronaldo’s extraordinary career edges toward its conclusion, his words signal the closing chapter of one of football’s greatest ever journeys — a career defined by records, resilience, and relentless ambition.
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