Pep Guardiola, the Manchester City boss, acknowledged that European clubs are likely to lose more players to teams in Saudi Arabia. He made these comments after Riyad Mahrez’s £30 million transfer to Al Ahli, where he is set to earn £750,000-per-week on a three-year contract. Several other Premier League stars, including Jordan Henderson, N’Golo Kante, Ruben Neves, Edouard Mendy, and Allan Saint-Maximin, have also signed lucrative deals in Saudi Arabia. Guardiola anticipates more footballers will follow suit and head to the Middle East.
“A few months ago when Cristiano [Ronaldo] was the only one to go, no one thought this many top, top players would play in the Saudi league. In the future there will be more and that’s why clubs need to be aware of what is happening.
“Saudi is not about being a threat, it is a reality. They want to create a strong league and so far they are the league who can do it.
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“The Premier League spent more than the others because the organisation is better and the broadcast rights are higher,” Guardiola said.