Will Kylian Mbappé follow Cristiano Ronaldo and Karim Benzema to Saudi Arabia? The superstar has fallen out of favor at PSG. Al-Hilal wants to take advantage of this situation.
As Saudi Pro League teams buy star after star from Europe this summer, the biggest deal could be yet to come.
Because, as several media reports, Al-Hilal has made an offer for Kylian Mbappé. So why shouldn’t the currently most sought-after footballer on the planet also switch to Saudi Arabia?
lure of money
Europe’s top scorer Cristiano Ronaldo demonstrated it earlier this year. Karim Benzema (Real Madrid) has now followed him, as have Roberto Firmino (Liverpool FC), Riyad Mahrez (Manchester City), Marcelo Brozovic (Inter Milan) and Edouard Mendy (Chelsea FC) and a few more have also taken the same step a few days ago. The lure of money is apparently too great.
Around one billion euros
According to reports, Mbappé is to collect a staggering fee of 700 million euros for one year at Al-Hilal. On top of that, there would be a transfer fee for Paris Saint-Germain of 300 million euros. Various international media refer to these figures. Mbappé would also be the most expensive football player of all time. The highlight: Afterwards, i.e. in the summer of 2024, he could then switch to his dream club Real Madrid on a free transfer.
Cristiano Ronaldo (38), who kicks for the Saudi club Al-Nassr, is said to receive “only” 200 million euros a year. The Saudi Arabian daily “Alriyadia” recently revealed the salary of Karim Benzema, who will play for Al-Ittihad from the coming season: According to this, the Frenchman earns around 50 million euros a year.
Saudi sovereign wealth fund finances the sport
A gigantic sum that almost seems like a tip compared to Mbappé and Ronaldo. By European standards, however, all of these sums are downright utopian. And the other top European players in the Arab country are now likely to be making money to an extent that they could hardly have imagined just a few weeks ago.
Who pays these sums? In June 2023, the Saudi state fund Public Investment Fund (PIF) took over 75 percent of the shares in the Al-Hilal club. With the PIF, headed by Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman (37), Saudi Arabia is trying to reduce its dependence on oil revenues and is investing in sports, among other things – golf and football are preferred investments, probably also to do sports washing.
PIF clubs include Al-Ittihad, Al-Ahli, Al-Hilal and also Al-Nassr. The volume of the sovereign wealth fund is estimated at 650 billion US dollars. The PIF is set to become the largest sovereign wealth fund in the world by 2030, managing financial assets worth US$2 trillion.
Moussa Diaby as a counterexample
The list of Saudi Arabia’s coveted players is long and seemingly enticing too. But there are also professionals who can resist the call. Moussa Diaby (Bayer 04 Leverkusen) is moving to Aston Villa on the British Isles and not to Al-Nassr. Bayer 04 and Diaby are said to have received an offer from Saudi Arabia. The decision was against Saudi Arabia.
The 24-year-old will increase his salary in Birmingham from an estimated two million euros to around eight million euros a year. And yet the 24-year-old apparently wants to concentrate on his footballing perspective and switch to what is currently the strongest league in the world. “Now I want to take the next step, start a new chapter,” said the attacker when he left the Rhineland.