Saudi clubs’ billion-dollar attack shakes up the football world…
It was only announced last Tuesday that Real Madrid superstar Karim Benzema (35) will be chasing goals for Al-Ittihad at least until 2026.
Only a few days later, Al-Ittihad announced that as well Signing of Chelsea’s N’Golo Kanté (32).
What is behind the gigantic transfer offensive of the Saudi clubs?
Karim Benzema was presented with a mega show at his new Saudi club Al-Ittihad
On the one hand the large-scale project “Saudi Vision 2030”, on the other hand a sports washing campaign. By 2030, Saudi Arabia wants to reduce its dependence on oil and gas exports, but according to its website it wants to strengthen “the areas of culture, cultural heritage, sports, entertainment and tourism”.
The kingdom is investing enormous sums in this project.
The state investment fund PIF, which bought England club Newcastle in 2021 and launched the LIV tour in golf, took over four clubs in the domestic league just last week: Al-Nassr, Al-Hilal, Al-Ittihad and Al -Ali.
And now lures stars like Benzema and Kanté into the desert.
Superstar moves to the Middle East are actually nothing new.
In 2003, for example, Stefan Effenberg (54) and Mario Basler (54) went to Qatar for a season.
The difference: While Effenberg is said to have collected two million dollars (around 1.87 million euros) at the time, Benzema will earn almost 200 million euros by 2026 – per season!
And: Effenberg and Basler ended their careers after one season in Qatar. Benzema, on the other hand, only became world footballer last year and is still full of juice.
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The Frenchman is set to become the new face of the Saudi league alongside Cristiano Ronaldo (38), who has been a striker for Al-Nassr since last winter. And so also improve the international reputation of Saudi Arabia.
According to Amnesty International, the human rights situation in the UK is “desolate” and freedom of expression is being restricted more and more.
The Saudis are also said to be interested in the newly crowned Champions League winner Ilkay Gündogan.
As the Spanish newspaper “Sport” reports, Benzema club Al-Ittihad is said to have made a financially strong offer for Gündogan. But: SPORT BILD knows that changing Saudi is absolutely not an issue for Gündogan!
World champions Mario Götze (31/Frankfurt), Toni Kroos (33/Real Madrid) and Thomas Müller (33/Bayern) also had inquiries from Saudi clubs, but declined.
And Lionel Messi (35) also decided against a desert change.
According to various media reports, Al-Hilal made him a two-year offer with a total salary of one billion euros. Messi turned down the mega offer, preferring to move to Inter Miami in the USA. There he should earn around 50 million euros per season.
But: The seven-time world footballer is already financially linked to the Saudis. He has been ambassador for the Saudi Arabian tourism authority since 2022.
One thing is clear: the Saudi Arabian attack worth billions has only just begun…