How Well Are The Saudi Joiners Doing A Year On?

It's been almost a year since the mass exodus of stars joining the Saudi Pro League. Here at Football Park, we’re here to see how well some of them are performing now since joining.

Cristiano Ronaldo

Considered one of the best of all time to some fans, Cristiano Ronaldo is not the player he was in his prime so after relations broke down with Erik Ten Hag and Manchester United, the Portuguese star found his way to the Saudi Pro League. On January 1st, Ronaldo signed a contract with Al-Nassr, keeping him at the club until 2025. In that time, he has been playing phenomenally.

👕✨ Al Nassr celebrated Cristiano’s record with special shirt for his 900th career goal!

…meanwhile, Ronaldo made it already 901 goals. 🇵🇹 pic.twitter.com/iNbU5ykDh8

— Fabrizio Romano (@FabrizioRomano) September 13, 2024

He recently celebrated achieving the incredible feat of scoring 900 career goals. 5 at Sporting Lisbon, 145 at Manchester United, 450 at Real Madrid, 101 at Juventus and therefore 64 at Al-Nassr. In 71 appearances in Saudi Arabia, Ronaldo has found the back of the net 64 times and provided 17 assists. It is clear to see that he has still got it, even at the age of 39. Moving to the Saudi Pro League has been a stroke of genius for Ronaldo and let’s not forget that he was the first one to start this movement.

Neymar Jr

Dubbed “The Prince Who Never Became King”, Neymar Jr joined up with Al-Hilal from PSG for a fee of €90 million in the August of 2023. With 584 career appearances, 359 goals and 217 assists before going to the Saudi Pro League whilst in relatively good fitness considering his past injury problems, it felt like a bit a shame seeing such a talent leave Europe.

🚨 On this day, one year ago, Neymar left PSG and signed for Al-Hilal for €90M. 🇸🇦🇧🇷

Rate his time in Saudi Arabia out of 10? 🤔 pic.twitter.com/qnfe8OHNUS

— Transfer News Live (@DeadlineDayLive) August 15, 2024

However, he recorded 5 matches where he found the back of the net once and got three assists before suffering a terrible cruciate ligament tear that has seen the Brazilian out for a total of 378 days, to put into context that is 56 matches. The positives are that he should finally be back soon but if Al-Hilal are unable to free up a place in the Saudi transfer window then they will not be able register Neymar eligible to play until the winter window in January. It’s hard to judge when you’ve been injured essentially the whole time, but Neymar has had an awful time in Saudi so far.

Karim Benzema

Karim Benzema left Real Madrid to go to the Saudi Pro League just a year after winning the Balon D’Or in 2022. He signed a contract with Al-Ittihad on the 1st of July 2023 and it has not gone as expected for the Frenchman as he has struggled massively. He’s found that it is still a relatively competitive league and at 36 he isn’t the same player he was. Benzema wants out of Saudi Arabia but there aren’t many clubs that can both afford or be willing to pay his extortionate wage demands, leaving him stuck there.

🚨 Karim Benzema wants to leave Al Ittihad! 👋

During his recent visit to Madrid, he shared with those around him about his "sad adventure" in Saudi Arabia. ☹️

The Frenchman is under contract until 2026 with the Saudi club.

(Source: @relevo) pic.twitter.com/rvLm8Qyuqa

— Transfer News Live (@DeadlineDayLive) May 20, 2024

Despite wanting to leave the club, Karim has still put up good numbers for Al-Ittihad. In just 35 appearances, Benzema has scored 19 goals and registered 9 assists. He has had a handful of great players come and join him as well. The likes of Moussa Diaby, Fabinho and N’Golo Kanté are all teammates of his, but he is still desperate to leave. All in all, not a great time in the Middle East for Karim Benzema.

Roberto Firmino

After spending eight years with Liverpool, fan favourite Roberto Firmino announced that he would not be renewing his contract at the end of the 2022/23 season. That meant that he would join Al-Ahli on a free transfer for the start of the next campaign. Staying at one club and therefore one league for that period of time has made it slightly difficult for Firmino to adjust. In 42 appearances in the Saudi Pro League, the centre forward has amassed just 12 goals and 7 assists. He was always the vital part as to why himself, Mohamed Salah and coincidentally another Saudi joiner in Sadio Mané worked so well, without those talents it was obvious that his numbers would drop.

✍️ Al Ahli Have Had Enough Of Former Liverpool Star Roberto Firmino 🤯

Could he be on his way out this summer? 🤔

Find Out the Latest Info Below 👇

🔗 https://t.co/Sqq0RUIFpD pic.twitter.com/fbAws0vXCU

— Football Park (@thefootballpark) June 7, 2024

It got to a point where Al-Ahli were open to sell the Brazilian just under a year of his services and they might still be keen on doing so unfortunately having just brought in Ivan Toney this summer. Paired with fellow former Premier League stars in former Manchester City player Riyad Mahrez and former Newcastle United player Allan Saint-Maximin, Firmino achieved an amazing third place in the league in his first season at the club. For that reason, you could say that Bobby Firmino has had a vey average time in Saudi Arabia given the great team performance but not so much individually.

Rúben Neves

This move caused a lot of backlash when it was first circulating given the ties to the Saudi Pro League and the ownership of Newcastle United. There were plans for him to join The Magpies on loan as soon as he joined Al-Hilal. Even though the Premier League allowed for 'related-party loans', the move fell through. Neves has been open about his move, stating that the money that he was offered was too good to turn down. The Portuguese midfielder previously had offers from such clubs like Barcelona, Arsenal and Manchester United but the rest is history.

🗣️ Reporter: "At 26-years old, why did you leave European football?"

🗣️ Rúben Neves: “Of course one of the things is the money. Of course, you cannot hide that." 🤑🇸🇦

(Source: BBC Sport) pic.twitter.com/6AExkom2gx

— Transfer News Live (@DeadlineDayLive) December 8, 2023

For a defensive midfielder, his statistics are actually quite good. In 55 games Neves has 7 goals and 15 assists. Before moving to Wolves, he was at Porto and he played 93 times for them. He only recorded four goals and three assists during that time span, clearly having a better time in the Saudi Pro League. Last season he helped Al-Hilal to a league title, producing a 14 point gap between them in first and Al-Nassr in second. That has definitely got to be better than what we could have achieved at Wolves so his decision to go to Saudi Arabia has paid off.

Future Transfers

With the Saudi Pro League seen as a retirement league given the age that most of the worldwide stars have made their way over, we could see a lot more players make the trip over. The money that is being laid on the table has tempted plenty, and players would make the move in a heartbeat if it meant that their family was taken care of in an instant. Both young and old could be making the switch but how big of a name will they be a year after their move?