Saudi League Clubs Target Modric, Neymar and More in European Transfer Market

The Saudi League clubs have captured the attention of the international media in the past few weeks, and have increased intensively in the past hours, due to the decision-makers in the Saudi League targeting the European transfer market to bring the best players in the world to be present in the new season in the lists and formations of the professional Saudi clubs.

For its part, the British newspaper “The Guardian” said that the eyes of the Saudi club Al-Hilal were directed to contract with the midfielder of Real Madrid and the Croatian national team, Luka Modric, in order to compensate for Messi’s decision to go to the American Inter Miami.

The newspaper said that a contract worth 60 million pounds, for two years, is pending the signing of the best player in the world in 2018, who is expected to hold a press conference at the residence of the Croatian national team, on Tuesday, to talk about his future.

The newspaper said that this offer comes within the framework of the efforts of Saudi football officials to attract the players who won the Golden Ball to play in the Saudi League, as the beginning was with the inclusion of Cristiano Ronaldo for victory, then Karim Benzema for Al-Ittihad, and now the quest to contract with Modric. Although Modric reached the age of 37, he remained a pivotal player in the royal team last season, as he played 52 matches in all competitions, scoring 6 goals and making the same. But with the imminent arrival of Jude Bellingham and the renewal of Dani Ceballos’ contract, Modric’s role may be affected in the coming period.

The former Tottenham star’s contract expires on June 30, and it was believed that he had agreed to renew with Real Madrid for another season, but with the arrival of Saudi Arabia with an attractive proposal, Modric is considering the possibility of moving away from the Bernabeu.

Another star who has appeared on the Saudi Hilal radar in the past few hours is the Brazilian star Neymar, whose team, Paris Saint-Germain, seems ready to hear offers about his transfer, as CBS said that Paris will ask for nearly 45 million euros to sell the player. The 31-year-old, whose contract with the French champions extends until 2025. As for the offer made to the player himself, the network said that it is estimated at 200 million euros annually, stressing that a delegation from Al-Hilal club is currently in the French capital to complete the deal.

On the other hand, it seems that the deal to include Ivorian striker Wilfried Zaha to Al-Nasr club has stalled, as the CBS sports network said that the player had rejected an offer of 30 million pounds annually to join Cristiano Ronaldo in Al-Nasr. Zaha, whose contract with his team, Crystal Palace, expires at the end of this month, held more talks with Al-Nasr last week, but it seems that the player may prefer to stay in Europe, which is perhaps the position of German midfielder Toni Kroos, who was reported by Bild newspaper. The German said that he rejected a Saudi offer, and would prefer to stay at least an additional year with Real Madrid.

And the list of players nominated to join the Saudi League clubs is still expanding, as the global “Goal” website mentioned that a Saudi delegation was in Istanbul to attend the European Champions League final, last Saturday, in order to open the door to negotiations with five players from the two teams competing in the final, who are the Manchester City trio. Kai Gundogan, Bernardo Silva, Riyad Mahrez, and Inter Milan duo Romelu Lukaku and Eden Dzeko.

Cristiano Ronaldo’s move to victory was only the beginning of what is to come in Saudi football, as the Saudi League clubs insisted on bringing in the most famous and most important international players to the league championship, through a plan aimed at making the Saudi League one of the most important international leagues, and allowing his clubs to sign with various stars. Who play in the most famous and most important international teams at the present time.

The new project, launched by Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman, aims to achieve qualitative leaps in various sports in the Kingdom by 2030, in addition to developing the football game and its competitions in particular, to bring the Saudi League to the list of the 10 best leagues in the world, and to increase the revenues of the Professional League from 450 million riyals to more than 1.8 billion riyals annually, in addition to raising the market value of the Saudi Professional League from 3 billion to more than 8 billion riyals.

Al-Hilal was very close to signing with Argentine star Lionel Messi, after the Saudi club entered negotiations strongly with Barcelona and Inter Miami, but Messi finally decided to move to the NBA. Al-Ittihad signed a contract with French star Karim Benzema, who won the Golden Ball as the best player in the world in 2022, in a deal that confirmed the growing steps of Saudi sports in order to reach the league to the top, not only in the region but also in the world.

Saudi clubs target a list of world-class players such as Belgian Romelu Lukaku, Argentine Mauro Icardi, Spaniard Adama Traore, Spaniard Sergio Busquets, former Real Madrid captain Sergio Ramos, and other legends.