Neymar's arrival at Al-Hilal, where players like Milinkovic-Savic, Malcom and Koulibaly are already present, is just the last link in the economic strength of the Saudi Pro League, without a doubt the fashionable league at the moment and already a threat more than real for the competitions of the Old Continent. The former PSG player signed for two seasons to collect a total of 200 million euros in sports concept, which could reach more than 350 kilos if we add advertising concepts.
The Brazilian star enters fully into the top three of the players who will earn the most in the Saudi League. Al-Hilal has paid 80 million for the transfer. Neymar was the protagonist on his day of the most expensive signing in history, when in 2017 PSG took him from FC Barcelona in exchange for a briefcase with 222 million euros.
With the arrival of Neymar at Al-Hilal, reality prevails with all its harshness. Of the ten highest paid players in the world, eight already play in Saudi Arabia.
And this is a sum and continues. Al-Hilal himself is very close to finalizing the signing of another striker. In this case, the Serbian Aleksander Mitrovic, 28, who has already agreed to sign him and is waiting for Fulham to give the go-ahead. Al-Hilal would pay another 50 million for an attacker who has played 206 Premier League games in which he has scored 111 goals and given 26 assists.
The first blow of effect of the Saudi Pro League was achieved by Al-Nassr with the landing of Cristiano Ronaldo on December 5. The Portuguese signed until 2025 after parting ways with Manchester United in exchange for 200 million euros per season. Similar figures are what his former Real Madrid teammate Karim Benzema will receive for each of the two campaigns (plus another optional one) that he wears the Al-Ittihad shirt. To all this we would have to add different bonuses both for sporting successes and for advertising contracts.
In the third position of this ranking would be Neymar, who would win half of the previous two and would share third place with the former Chelsea midfielder N'Golo Kanté, already 32 years old and leader in the midfield of the French team. .
The players number five and six in the ranking are precisely the only ones who do not play in Arabia in the top ten: Kylyan Mbappé and Leo Messi. In the case of French, the situation remains confused. Although he no longer trains with disposables and does with Luis Enrique's pupils, it is not clear if the Frenchman is going to renew until 2025, as PSG wants, or if he is going to stick with his idea of exhausting the year of his contract that got signed and then leave. The Bondy player currently charges 70 million per season, but if he renews, it will be in exchange for a bonus that is very juicy.
Leo Messi earns 45 million per season at Inter Miami in the United States MLS. The Argentine left PSG this summer and signed for two years with David Beckham's team.
The ranking of the ten highest paid is closed by players who come from the Premier: Jordan Henderson, one of Liverpool's classics; Riyad Mahrez (recent European champion with Manchester City) or Koulibaly, who played for Chelsea last year after many seasons in Naples. Other stars point to Saudi Arabia before the market closes; among them the Moroccan goalkeeper of Sevilla, Bono.
