A Number of Top European Players Following Ronaldo to Saudi Arabia, Anyone?

– The arrival of Cristiano Ronaldo to the Saudi Arabian League sparked a wave of other top European players joining the Middle East.

As is known, after failing in his second period with Manchester United, Ronaldo started a new journey in Saudi Arabia.
On 30 December 2022, Saudi club Al Nassr reached an agreement for Ronaldo to join the club effective 1 January 2023, signing a contract until 2025. Ronaldo receives the highest football salary in history, valued at €200 million per year.

This includes a guaranteed annual football salary of €90 million, with commercial and sponsorship deals including bringing his total annual salary to €200 million. He is also reported to have a signing bonus in the region of €100 million.

This photo released by al-Nassr football club shows Cristiano Ronaldo posing with French coach Rudi Garcia (L) and club president Musalli Al-Muammar, January 3, 2023.

Fantastic and tempting salaries have triggered a number of players to be interested in accepting proposals.

After Ronaldo, another top European player who joined was Karim Benzema. The French player left Real Madrid and joined Al Ittihad. The Saudi Arabian champions are reportedly paying him €200 million per season. Benzema will defend Al-Ittihad for two years.

Karim Benzema joins Al Ittihad.

The latest is the name N’Golo Kante. The former France international will join Benzema at Al Ittihad. Kante is reported to earn slightly less than Benzema, and has agreed a three-year contract with the Saudi Arabian champions.

N’Golo Kante joined Saudi Arabian club Al Ittihad.

After that there is the Moroccan player, Hakim Ziyech. After missing out on loan at Paris Saint-Germain in January, Ziyech will now fly to Al-Nassr on a three-year contract. He will be on the same team as Ronaldo.

There are still other European players who are now the target. For example, there are the names Neymar (PSG), Bernardo Silva (Manchester City, Son Heung-min (Tottenham Hotspur), Mohammed Salah (Liverpool) and Luka Modric.

Some of them, namely Silva, Luka Modric and Son Heung-min, are reported to have rejected the offers that came.

Watch live streaming of BTV programs here