The Saudi 'Super League' - Premier League finally meets its match

If one said a year ago that the Saudi Pro League would be the second-highest spenders in the next summer transfer window, the thought would most certainly be laughed off.

But here we are, with the Saudi League not only being the second-highest spenders, only behind the Premier League, but also having bought some of the biggest names in world football - Neymar, Karim Benzema, Roberto Firmino and Cristiano Ronaldo.

Although CR7 secured his move to the league in the winter window, there is no doubt that his move has played a big role in others making the jump, as Neymar has already said.

"I believe Cristiano Ronaldo started all of this and everybody called him 'crazy,' and this and that. Today, you see the league grow more and more," the former PSG forward told Al Hilal's social channels.

Ronaldo signed a two-and-a-half-year contract reported to be worth more than 200 million euros with Al-Nassr in December 2022 after leaving Manchester United.

The league actually has four big spenders so far, all bankrolled by the Saudi Public Investment Fund (PIF) - Al-Hilal, Al-Nassr, Al-Ahli and Al-Ittihad - who have spent close to 800 million euros so far.

The rest of the league's 14 teams have spent less than 100 million euros in comparison.

Sportswashing or a bigger plan?

Regardless of the spending, this is not like the Chinese Super League which spent big on football for a while and then drifted away.

There is a concerted effort from Saudi Arabia to make sports an integral part of their economy.

They have spent over six billion euros in sports overall to diversify their economy which is oil-based so far.

The calls that this is sportswashing will remain but they have now hosted golf, F1, tennis and pro-wrestling events over the past year and look set for more.

Rights groups including Grant Liberty, Amnesty International and Human Rights Watch term such spending "sportswashing" – bankrolling big-name sporting events in order to distract from a poor record on human rights.

After the 2018 murder of journalist Jamal Khashoggi, Saudi Arabia was broadly shunned, with many major corporations withdrawing or pausing investments in the country.

But now they are serious about welcoming the rest of the world as their 'Vision 2030' looks to gain momentum.

Introduced by the Saudi government in 2016, they want to build towards the FIFA World Cup in that year with a view to hosting it.

Given that Qatar already managed to host it, Saudi Arabia are looking to first build their football league as one of the most attractive in world football by bringing the best players in and they're off to a solid start. 

One of the major things to note here is that they are buying not only big-name players who are past their prime, but looking to buy players who are in their prime or are yet to peak.

The signings of Ruben Neves, Gabri Veiga and Demaray Gray exemplify that.

The way things are going, the Saudi League could become the second-biggest league in the world after the Premier League.

They are already able to offer more money than most European clubs and with Spain's La Liga, Italy's Serie A, and Germany's Bundesliga all facing financial turmoil, only multiplied due to the pandemic, the Saudi League has a genuine chance of becoming the biggest competitor to the EPL.

The league is already doing some smart things by making their highlights more accessible worldwide on all social platforms, something the other leagues restrict.

The talks of a European Super League with some of the top clubs forming their own league almost took off before fan and media backlash pushed things back.

The result was the Premier League almost gaining a monopoly in big spending especially powered by the big money the clubs get from TV rights and that was being called the new Super League.

But now, with Saudi Arabia in the fray, they have finally met their match.

However, just buying big-name players obviously won't be the only way to become a top league, they also must start investing in their grassroots and ensuring that this helps develop their local football and produce talented players. 

Cristiano Ronaldo will be coming to India to play against Mumbai FC in the Asian Champions League and with Saudi bringing such big names to Asia, this will also boost the quality and popularity of football in Asia in the long term.

All in all, the Saudi 'Super League' is here to stay, and take over.