Cristiano Ronaldo and Karim Benzema have already headed to Saudi Arabia. Lionel Messi and Luka Modric also received very lucrative offers. These are players who have shared all the Golden Balls between them since 2008, but they are all over 35 years old.
That is why Čeferin is not worried about mass departures. “I rather think the Saudi clubs are making a mistake,” he said. “They should rather invest in academies for young players, bring in quality coaches and educate their own players,” he added.
“Buying players at the end of their careers is not the way forward. They have already made a similar mistake in China, where they took players who were slowly retiring from football,” added the 55-year-old Slovenian official.
“Tell me the name of a single player who is in his prime and has decided to go and start his career in Saudi Arabia,” he said. “It’s not just about money. The players want to win titles in quality leagues. And those are in Europe,” he added.