The Saudi league are they targeting to drain the prem as well

I think it was quite telling that even Ronaldo, the first major past it star to go there, and a man with a huge, huge ego, only said that it might one day be the fifth best league in the world.

He's being paid a fortune and even he can't bring himself to lie too much about the realistic quality of the league.
 
The real test will be if they can get a superstar at the peak of their powers - for example Mbappe - to turn his back on European football. I very much doubt we’ll see that happen anytime soon.

No matter how much they throw at past their best legends, it would take decades for the Saudi league to gain the international kudos of the Premier League, La Liga, Serie A and the Champions League.
 
The MLS will gain more international kudos than Saudi as it is a lot more sustainable.

For Saudi, see China. Paying fortunes for players (usually) past their best, or fancy a kick about for 2-3 years to retire even more obscenely wealthy.
 
Maybe they'll view Newcastle as a feeder club?

Still, the PL has lived by the cheque book; maybe it will die by the cheque book. We've had no problem stripping other nations, and even continents, of their talent, so maybe we deserve it. Being a "traditional" football nation surely isn't enough to justify us doing?
 
Most young footballers like to compete against the best and win trophies and want to play in the top European leagues, while others are motivated by greed.
 
Norman_Conquest said:
Most young footballers like to compete against the best and win trophies and want to play in the top European leagues, while others are motivated by greed.
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Once all the best players are in Saudi, they won't have to make a choice.

English football wasn't the best, but players came here for the money. Now it is the best, but it also looks like someone else is prepared to pay more money.
 
Frozen Horse said:
Once all the best players are in Saudi, they won't have to make a choice.

English football wasn't the best, but players came here for the money. Now it is the best, but it also looks like someone else is prepared to pay more money.
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None of the best players are in Saudi right now.

Some of the formerly best players are.
 
Frozen Horse said:
Once all the best players are in Saudi, they won't have to make a choice.

English football wasn't the best, but players came here for the money. Now it is the best, but it also looks like someone else is prepared to pay more money.
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Some young footballers have principles and I would like to think they would stick to them. Plenty made a noise about Qatar prior to the world cup, some with low standards will always be able to be bought with a bag full of money.
 
TeaCider said:
None of the best players are in Saudi right now.

Some of the formerly best players are.
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That's what the PL was like around 94, 95

I'm not suggesting everyone will up and off in the next year; however, if they get enough good old players, a few younger ones will be attracted too. That's how change happens.
 
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Frozen Horse said:
That's what the PL was like around 94, 95
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The PL was created just over a year after the end of the ban of English clubs in Europe.
Before that ban, 7 of the last 8 European Champions had been English clubs.

If that's not the best, what is?

The ban from European football had a major impact on the prospects of English football, which it has since bounced back from.

It's in no way comparable with the current Saudi situation.
 
Italy was better at the time.

While serie A remained the richest league, the top players in their prime stayed there.

As money in the PL caught up and eventually overtook Italy, top players in their prime came to England.

Let's not kid ourselves they came for the history and tradition.
 
Frozen Horse said:
Italy was better at the time.

While serie A remained the richest league, the top players in their prime stayed there.

As money in the PL caught up and eventually overtook Italy, top players in their prime came to England.

Let's not kid ourselves they came for the history and tradition.
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Italy was better before the European ban?

Not sure I've ever seen that.

They did have an early boost in finances in the 90s from being one of the first adopters of regular televised league football, which allowed them to offer more money, but other leagues quickly caught up on that.

Whether it's Serie A or the Premier League, it's not the same as a despotic state fund pumping in billions upon billions to buy sports.

It's bad enough when it's individual European clubs being taken over to sportswash, like Man City, Newcastle and PSG, but they're now trying to go wholesale with a whole league structure.
 
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No, at the end of the ban.

The best players in the world were in Italy at that time. They only left because the money in the PL was better, even if it meant a Step down in quality.

Our finest were being dumped out of the CL by teams from Turkey and Poland at the time; no one was attracted by the quality, and certainly not by the quality we'd had 10 years before.
 
Wouldn’t surprise me at all if beating Argentina has triggered a massive rise in support for football in the country and the Saudi government want to capitalise on that .

I know people here are saying it’s only old players past their prime , but even young players and players at their peak will be turned by the money being offered . It wouldn’t surprise me to see better players go in the future . The only question is sustainability though , the Saudis surely can’t keep offering that sum of money to players . I mean it’s barely sustainable in Europe with leagues with much bigger populaces in it and infrastructures

I don’t know though , it wouldn’t feel natural having such a high profile league in a very autocratic country either . It would feel very artificial to me . Qatar felt the same
 
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