Klopp shares understandable Saudi-related concern

In the wider world of football, particularly across all major domestic European leagues, the emergence of the wealthy Saudi Arabia-backed Pro League as a destination for largely elder, but still very much quality players, has raised plenty of eyebrows.

Plenty of top players from all the major UEFA leagues have made the switch out to Saudi clubs, and with the likes of former Real Madrid star Cristiano Ronaldo having moved along with Wolverhampton Wanderers’ Ruben Neves, it is actually more difficult to remember who has not travelled this summer, given the plethora of remaining speculation surrounding further reported targets.

Liverpool manager Jurgen Klopp has recently spoken about this as two of his former charges have recently made the switch, namely Jordan Henderson who has joined failed Aston Villa manager Steven Gerrard out there, and Fabinho has just joined up with former Wolves and Spurs manager Nuno Espirito Santo – and he had already got his hands on Karim Benzema, N’Golo Kante and Jota. Klopp’s issue is the timing of the relevant transfer deadlines.

Liverpool had a poorer year in the 2022/23 campaign and they are undergoing quite a rebuild and currently sit at 1500/1 to land a quadruple, and those odds and these football betting offers will likely change with further incomings and outgoings, but the last thing Klopp and fans who like a small flutter would want to happen is to lock their bet in, see the window close, and then a Saudi club come in with an offer for a key player that totally changes their chances for success.

With a deadline that lasts until September 20, compared to Europe’s September 1, Klopp was quoted as saying about their current influence on the game, and the potential transfer advantage they hold.

“It is massive, in the moment. Pretty much the worst thing I think is that the transfer window in Saudi Arabia is open three weeks longer. If I am right, I heard something like that, then at least in Europe that’s not helpful. Uefa or Fifa must find solutions for that. But in the end, at this moment, I don’t know exactly what will happen. It is already influential, for us, for sure. We will have to learn to deal with it, and that’s what we do,” added Klopp.

“That’s pretty much all I can say about it, time will show.”

With a reported combined Saudi spend of £352 million this summer, that is the fifth highest in the world game so far and breaks down as follows, the EPL £1.17 billion, Serie A £472m), Ligue 1 £394m) and the Bundesliga (£387m) according to Transfermarkt.

One of the latest players to make the switch, is a previous Liverpool connection, Sadio Mane. After a far poorer year at Bayern Munich, with plenty of off the pitch issues it seems, Al-Nassr have taken advantage and apparently allowed Bayern to recoup most of the £35 million they paid 12 months ago, even though it appears they wanted him off their books.

Manager Thomas Tuchel was quoted as saying.

“We had a long, big hug and we both agreed we don’t like what’s happening now, but we think it’s for the best in this situation. Sometimes things don’t work out as everybody wants. In this particular situation it was the best solution to untie the knot.”

I doubt Mane will be the last to be tempted by the league.