Saudi Arabian football clubs have acquired numerous international star players this summer. On Monday, it was reported that Al-Hilal, one of the country’s major clubs, has made a world record offer of 300 million euros for the French striker of Paris Saint-Germain About Kylian Mbappe.
The 24-year-old speedster is a superstar living in the peak years of his career, who has been talked about for years Cristiano Ronaldo mixed Lionel Messi’s heir to the mantle as the center of attention of the football world and the best player in the world. A move to the Middle East would be an exceptional career step in European-focused top football.
– It is an absurd situation that such a discussion is taking place. The transfer of the biggest star of the football world to a league of that level would be unimaginable, Urheilu’s expert Miika Nuutinen download directly.
According to Nuutinen, the level of Saudi Arabia’s main league is not even close to Europe’s top leagues. He can’t find a single footballing reason for the French star’s transfer to the country’s football league.
– The transfer could not be justified in any way as a football-related step in the right direction, Nuutinen emphasizes.
Al-Ittihad won the Saudi Arabian championship last season. Last successful Al-Hilal was third. The club world championship has never been won by any Saudi Arabian team, but the tournament has been dominated by the big European clubs.
PSG have offered two options
Mbappe has scored a total of 84 goals in the last three seasons in the French league. In last year’s World Cup, he scored eight goals. Nuutinen estimates that Mbappe is close to the absolute peak of his career. Mbappe’s current contract with PSG expires in a year and the attacker has not signed an extension with the club.
PSG wants to hold on to their superstar or at least get compensation for the transfer elsewhere, even though it is a Qatari-owned, rich club.
– It is difficult to find a player who would affect the playing of his own team more than Mbappe. It would be a huge loss of image for PSG if the world’s most valuable footballer walked out the door for free in a year, Nuutinen opens the whole.
For several years, Mbappe has been “flirting” with moving to the ranks of the Spanish big club Real Madrid. It has been considered likely that Mbappe would move to Spain in a year. Al-Hilal’s contract offer is for one year, but for example from an American TV company According to CBS the total value of the contract would exceed even one billion euros.
According to Nuutinen, jumping to Saudi Arabia would be a stain on the career of a player who has achieved a lot.
– Despite his young age, he has already achieved things that many people never achieve. This would tarnish the legacy he has created so far in his career, Nuutinen analysed.
As a passionate football person, Nuuti is saddened by the development, where players who are still in the peak years of their career move away from the world’s toughest top leagues and not all the best compete against each other. In the case of Saudi Arabia, there has been a lot of talk about so-called sports washing. The term means that the country tries to polish its image through sports.
– In the football business, we sometimes drift quite far from the deepest essence of football. This is an extreme example of how rich countries pump their own cause with the help of football, Nuutinen thinks.
Are the power relations of the species changing?
During the summer, people have moved to Saudi Arabia, among other things Karim Benzema, Kalidou Koulibaly, Roberto Firmino mixed N’Golo Kante level star players.
Saudi Arabia’s state investment fund PIF or Public Investmend Fund owns Al-Hilal and three other clubs in the country’s football league. SWFI (Sovereign Wealth Fund Institute), which studies the ownership of public funds and state funds by The value of PIF is 650 billion dollars, or about 604 billion euros.
The power clubs of the country’s main league will probably continue to have the opportunity to acquire star players. However, Nuutinen does not yet see the country’s main league challenging the European leagues. He reminds that, for example, a few years ago, top quality players suddenly moved to the Chinese Premier League.
– For a football series to be of high quality, so much more is needed than just a few star players. For example, we need working environments, coaches, lots of players, fans and everything else that makes the league competitive, Nuutinen opens.
He himself considers it unlikely that Mbappe would eventually move to Saudi Arabia. Nuutinen believes that the best players playing in Europe will also be seen in the traditional top leagues next season. At the same time, Nuutinen emphasizes that an extraordinary amount of money is used in Saudi Arabian football.
– In that sense, the rise of the series must be taken seriously. They are already shaking up the football world. If Mbappe’s move were to materialize, it would certainly have effects that are difficult to predict, Nuutinen states.