Saudi Pro League tries to move on from era of ageing megastar but big names still loom

There is no Mohamed Salah in the new Saudi Pro League season that kicks off on Thursday and while the era of the ageing megastar is ending, there is still the strong chance the next few months will be dominated by Cristiano Ronaldo. The 41-year-old is 24 shy of 1,000 career goals and, with the five-time Ballon d’Or winner having scored 102 in 107 league games for Al-Nassr, the milestone could – should – be reached this season.

Huge as that will be, just how it fits into the plans of the league is unclear. This is the fourth season since the spending started with $957m splashed out in the summer of 2023. It produced thousands of articles, dozens of international broadcasting deals and untold numbers of people worldwide sporting the yellow CR7 Al-Nassr shirt. Now, though, the focus is on getting a little more value for money and lifting not just the clubs, but the standard of Saudi Arabian football in general.

An early World Cup elimination provoked plenty of questions (even if later results showed that draws against Uruguay and an impressive Cape Verde plus a sole defeat against Spain, the eventual champions, was not quite as bad as it first looked), with the main one being whether the money spent on the local league had resulted in a better standard of local players. As yet, it does not seem to be the case.

The league does not yet supply talent to Europe or anywhere else. Of the 26-man World Cup squad only the right-back, Saud Abdulhamid, of Lens, plays overseas. The consensus is that this has to change and is heightened by the worry that too many of those who stay home do not play enough. Locals are often squeezed out by foreign talents, especially when it comes to creative, goalscoring and goalkeeping positions.

The big spending has undoubtedly improved the standard of teams in general – Saudi sides have had increased success in Asian club competitions, but the national side has yet to see the benefit.

While many expected Salah to choose the Red Sea over the Black Sea port of Trabzonspor, the determination to sign the Egyptian seemed to have lessened over the past few months (and that is assuming Salah ever considered Saudi Arabia as his first choice).

The biggest name in the Arab footballing world would have been quite a draw, even if the 34-year-old no longer fits the preferred model, which is trying to sign younger players who have a resale value when they return to Europe.

Will that be the case for Crysencio Summerville, the biggest signing of the summer so far, who joined Al-Hilal for around €80m? If all goes well, the 24-year-old Netherlands winger can spend some time in Riyadh and, one day, head back to Europe for another hefty fee.

There have been the usual criticisms of Summerville choosing money over ambition, but ambition is part of the Hilal DNA. With 19 league titles and four Asian championships, coming second again will not be acceptable even if the team were undefeated through the whole campaign.

The Blues, sold by the Public Investment Fund (PIF) in April, still have Karim Benzema, Rúben Neves, Theo Hernández, Yassine Bounou, Kalidou Koulibaly and more, so the pressure is on the head coach, Simone Inzaghi, to retake the title from the yellow half of Riyadh.

Ronaldo lifted that trophy in May for Al‑Nassr, a triumph soon followed by the exit of Jorge Jesus to take over as the Portugal head coach. He has been replaced by Ange Postecoglou. The former Tottenham manager has Sadio Mané, Kingsley Coman and João Félix at his disposal, but the club have financial problems that have meant, as yet, there have not been many incomings. A first Asian Champions League title would go down well.

That crown belongs to Al‑Ahli who, after winning their second successive continental title in April, were ready to focus on domestic matters this season and a second SPL title since 1984. It was all looking good, but just a few days before the start, the head coach, Matthias Jaissle, left for Newcastle. The Greens and the Magpies share the same owner, PIF, but this was a decision that did not go down well in Jeddah. The appointment of Arne Slot’s former assistant Marino Pusic is not seen as especially exciting.

Jaissle’s departure also came as a shock to Jeddah rivals Al-Ittihad, who struggled last season. Just a day or so before Jaissle’s departure, the Tigers followed their rivals in hiring a 38-year-old German, whose career as a defender had also been cut short by injury and had experience at RB Salzburg. Jens Wissing has a big job ahead.

Al-Qadsiah are the last of the contenders. If Brendan Rodgers can improve on the fourth-place finish of last season and also win a first trophy since 1984, that will be enough for the Aramco‑backed club.

There is now a genuine “big five” that provides challenges for the others, but perhaps they can progress by giving more playing time and opportunities to local players that would, in the long run, be better for the league than signing Salah, and others, in their mid-30s.

Reporting from The Guardian contributed to this story.