They are still offered hundreds of millions of dollars. Why is there still a demand for Saudi Arabia and how much do they pay players there?

When we talk about huge salaries in football, it is the Saudis that we think of in recent years. They have begun an active hunt for European players and offer them extraordinary favorable conditions to make them come to them. In some cases, we are talking about tens of millions of euros per season, which is not the case with most of the continent's top teams. OBOZ.UA figured out why Saudi Arabia still attracts players and what salaries they want to lure them with.

Salaries are extremely high

Ronaldo is at the top of the salary ranking. His personality remains interesting in Europe even after his second year in Saudi Arabia, so they are well aware of the Portuguese's media importance for their own football. In one season, Crist receives as much as 200 million euros - even Mbappe was not offered as much at PSG. He is immediately followed by two other former La Liga representatives, Benzema and Neymar, both of whom have contracts that stipulate a salary of one hundred million euros.

The following figures are not so big, but the players are quite famous. These are Marez (52 million euros), Mane (40), Koulibaly, Mitrovic, Milinkovic-Savic, Kante, and Laporte. Not only do they earn many times more than they did in their time in Europe, most of them can boast of much higher incomes than the highest-paid players of Manchester City, Real Madrid, or Bayern Munich. Take a look at the average salaries of the Saudis - they are also higher than the normal salary in the European top leagues. Fabinho, Jota, Felipe, Banega, Wijnaldum, Fofana, Rakitic, and Carrasco receive 10+ million euros a year.

Are such payments equal to the players' sporting achievements? Not always. For example, only Ronaldo is getting his money's worth among the top players - he has 35 goals and 11 assists (although this did not help Al Nasr become the champion). But the situation with Neymar is unclear: the Brazilian injured his knee and did not appear on the field for 10 months! His contract expires in a year and Al Hilal is not going to reduce his salary even though the player is not physically present. The winger recently complained to Valve about cheaters in CS2 eSports, and when he realized that this did not add to his career, he mentioned that recovery is very difficult.

Benzema hasn't been in the top of the activity list yet: he had a falling out with the coach and didn't get enough playing time. Marcelo Gallardo said he didn't like the Frenchman's style and contribution, but Al Ittihad didn't hesitate at all and chose the player's side. Gallardo was fired and he has already found a job at his native River Plate. Karim himself will continue to be an influential person for the team, no matter how much the president of the structure, Luay Nazer, tries to build everything for himself. Perhaps, starting from the new season, the striker will be able to justify the huge amount of income with real actions on the field.

There are some very strange figures. The same Marez was one of the main players of Al Ahly and missed only 2 matches last season, but according to the goal+pass system, he scored only 11+13 points. And Mane, after a fantastic era in Liverpool, is barely active in the SA: 32 games and only 13+8 (although he receives the 5th highest salary in the league). Because of this, Sadio doesn't even get enough game practice. The start of the new Pro League season is just over two weeks away.

Why are players still attracted to the Saudis?

Saudi Arabian football is still an unknown competition for most people. Despite the big names, media coverage, and widespread discussion, it can be difficult to find broadcasts of their games in Ukraine. Exotic leagues used to be considered the place to end a high-profile career, but relatively young players like Laporte, Kante, Neves, Diaby and others would immediately refute this statement. On the part of the players, everything is clear - they are after money.

And the clubs get help in popularizing the championship. The Saudis knew for sure that Ronaldo's presence would work, and it was the famous Portuguese who pioneered the unknown world of the desert country. Then came the transfer boom you heard about last summer. Then the clubs of the Saudi Pro League paid 949 million euros for the newcomers. This year, there is less money activity, but salaries are not falling.

Behind all this is the desire to see their championship in the world football top. Saudi Arabia's Prince Mohammed bin Salman Al Saud plans to make it by 2030, as part of a large-scale internal reform of the entire country. The purchase of Newcastle and the first tops in domestic competitions are just the tip of the iceberg. They also host Super Bowls of different countries and other non-football tournaments. The Saudis even fought to get into the European Champions League, but this proposal was quickly rejected by UEFA.

This summer, the list of top Europeans will only expand for the Saudis

Saudi football is still present in our transfer market this summer. The clubs received a huge bonus when the federation allowed them to increase the number of legionnaires from 8 to 10 - and the advertising campaign intensified at the start of the new draw. For example, Moussa Diaby (€60 million), Bento (18), Aubameyang (9), and Rajkovic (8) have already joined the Pro League; Bonaventura and Nacho joined as free agents. None of them will be able to surpass Ronaldo or Benzema in terms of salary, but the figures for future rewards also look solid.

There are no transfers in both directions yet, although some players are preparing to leave for the football continent. For example, N'Golo Kante wants to become a star in Europe again after the Euros, and Bayern Munich is interested in him. So far, Saint-Makimen has definitely returned to Fenerbahçe; Rakitic has also joined Hajduk, although it's more about finishing his career at home.

Why is this so? The same financial imbalance contributes to this. The resource Capology indicates that the average salary in SA is fixed at 5 million euros per year. And if the player is a famous European, then this is immediately plus the annual salary of the notional Guardiola. You will not find such figures in England - 3 million euros, in Italy - 1.5 million, in Spain - 2.1 million. The Bundesliga and Ligue 1 barely broke the one million euros mark on average. Interestingly, the top ten in terms of income in France and Germany are exclusively representatives of one club. You can easily name them: "PSG and Bayern Munich.

The new season of the exotic and exclusive league starts in the twentieth of August. This year, there is almost no outflow of players from there, on the contrary, the trend for replenishment continues. And not everyone goes for three figures in the contract, even conditional salaries of 10-20 million euros are satisfactory. All this contributes to the popularity of the competition. However, the Saudis still need to work on the accessibility of their championship, otherwise we will only be able to see our favorite football stars on their Instagram.