Saudi Pro League club 'enraged officials' after trying to sign five Chelsea players at once

Saudi Pro League side Al Hilal are said to have launched an outrageous "bulk offer" for five Chelsea players, enraging officials as a result.

Champions Al Ittihad have brought in Karim Benzema, N'Golo Kante and Jota, while Al Nassr kicked off the madness by signing Cristiano Ronaldo in a staggering £173 million-a-year deal before recently drafting in Inter Milan midfielder Marcelo Brozovic.

Al Hilal's proposal was too much for Kalidou Koulibaly to turn down and they paid a league £47 million record fee for Wolves midfielder Ruben Neves, in addition to snapping up Sergej Milinkovic-Savic from Lazio.

However, the New York Timessay Al Hilal made an extraordinary attempt to sign FIVE Chelsea players in one go.

The unique offer would have been a first of its kind but ultimately did not materialise. It's said officials were left "enraged" as they felt the numbers involved were much higher than the value of the players.

The players have not been named, but Koulibaly's services were secured for £25 million and he's been joined in Saudi by ex teammates Kante and Edouard Mendy - the latter moving to Al Ahli in a £16 million transfer.

Hakim Ziyech, Callum Hudson-Odoi and Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang have also all been courted by Saudi sides.

But the five-player bundle prompted concerns from SPL chiefs as they felt it would distort the market to the point where Saudi clubs would regularly have to pay over the odds for players.

What's more, they issued teams with a set of ground rules when looking to lure players to the division - one being that any player commanding an annual salary of more than $3 million (£2.29 million) must have the deal signed off by the league.