Saudi Professional League 2023/2024

[rendravolt]

Another player has joined Al-Ittihad and he is Danilo Ferreira who previously played for PSG. He has spent 3 seasons with the French club and he was also part of Portugal's Euro 2016 winning team. His experience will definitely be very useful here and Al-Ittihad have completed the transfer of the 32-year-old defensive midfielder.

More and more European players are coming to Al-Ittihad and this shows that they are very serious about winning the title again. The poor results they got last season certainly made them learn that they will continue to enrich the depth of their squad and it is hoped that all the players who join can have a significant impact on the club.

[Uruhara]

Another player has joined Al-Ittihad and he is Danilo Ferreira who previously played for PSG. He has spent 3 seasons with the French club and he was also part of Portugal's Euro 2016 winning team. His experience will definitely be very useful here and Al-Ittihad have completed the transfer of the 32-year-old defensive midfielder.

More and more European players are coming to Al-Ittihad and this shows that they are very serious about winning the title again. The poor results they got last season certainly made them learn that they will continue to enrich the depth of their squad and it is hoped that all the players who join can have a significant impact on the club.

Currently, seeing European players joining SPL clubs has become a common occurrence. And it seems like we are becoming more and more used to this. Al-ittihad indeed looks very ambitious to add strength to their squad this season. AL-ittihad doesn't seem to want to experience failure like last season. And Al-ittihad seems to want to repeat their glory like in the 2023 season. But it is not only Al-ittihad who have succeeded in bringing in many new players this season from Europe. There are also many other teams. But Al-ittihad is still the most active to date.

[dzungmobile]

Currently, seeing European players joining SPL clubs has become a common occurrence. And it seems like we are becoming more and more used to this.

Money is key because career life of football players is very short and they have to maximize income they can have from playing time. After retirement, they will have less jobs to do and income will be affected. It is more than true with players who are not at star or super star players. With them, good offer and high salary from Saudi Arabia club is very hard to refuse.

Al-ittihad indeed looks very ambitious to add strength to their squad this season. AL-ittihad doesn't seem to want to experience failure like last season. And Al-ittihad seems to want to repeat their glory like in the 2023 season. But it is not only Al-ittihad who have succeeded in bringing in many new players this season from Europe. There are also many other teams. But Al-ittihad is still the most active to date.

Last season they had Benzema but failed to defend their title and worse than that, they ended it with a low position, not as a runner-up. This summer shows that Al-Ittihad don't want to stay below Al-Hilal and Al-Nassr again by their activities on transfer market. They might fail to win the league title but a runner-up position is possible and they will compete directly with Al-Nassr for this position.

[verdinio]

Honestly, this championship doesn't convince me much, they spent a lot of money to recruit a lot of people but it doesn't take off.
Even Mancini who coached the Italian national team ran away there, nothing is known about him, he didn't cause a sensation or anything.
Obviously he acted like a mercenary.

[tusandii]

Currently, seeing European players joining SPL clubs has become a common occurrence. And it seems like we are becoming more and more used to this.

Money is key because career life of football players is very short and they have to maximize income they can have from playing time. After retirement, they will have less jobs to do and income will be affected. It is more than true with players who are not at star or super star players. With them, good offer and high salary from Saudi Arabia club is very hard to refuse.

You are absolutely right, many European players go to Saudi Arabia because they are offered a salary of more than 2x when they were still in Europe and they do not waste this opportunity even though their football career is over at least they can get a big salary for their retirement, this does not apply to ordinary players, even star players also find it difficult to refuse if their age and football career are no longer good as in the list below.

Source : List of top players transfers to Saudi Arabian League

That does not include Ronaldo and also Nacho (Real Madrid) who this season were recruited by the Al Qadisyah club, I think in the future there will also be many top players joining Saudi Arabian clubs like the rumors that still exist today about Mohammed Salah, Kevin De Bruyne and also Casemero.

[LUCKMCFLY]

In the last two seasons Al Nassr's problem has always been the same, namely they have problems in their defense line, so that is what hinders them from competing with Al Hilal for the Saudi Pro League title. Unfortunately at the beginning of this season they showed the same problem, namely looking fragile in defense. Cristiano Ronaldo continues to show good performances, only that it is not supported by good play from all lines, especially in defense. Compared to their rivals Al Hilal, Al Nassr is still behind so it is very natural when many people predict that Al Hilal will win the title again this season. Now we can only see whether they will be better or not to compete for the title.

I have no doubt about what you are talking about, because that is how it is, it is very noticeable, but I do not understand something, if we know this, if from here we can see these errors, why does the coach of Al Nassr not correct it? That is something that does not make much sense, because eventually things are always like that, but there must be a way that they can do something, otherwise they will continue repeating the same story. I understand that many already predict that Al Hilal will be champions, but they must really change their formation, because defense is also fundamental in the team.

[Volgastallion]

And here we go...... another and another player from top team or top league from europe being and still in good shape good fit and in good age went to Arabia, now it really seem like is a place for a one season holliday to not lost the track and await for the next season to take part in other team who have space for them, is gonna work like a hub or a storage of players for europe.

But well is a win win for both parts or 3 parts if we include the players in the equation.

[sana54210]

Bergwijn joining Benzema is a good move, Ittihad seems like a better team already this season, if Benzema doesn't run away this time around, they have a good squad that can play for the title. While I agree that Hilal seems like the best one without a doubt, and Nasr seems like a close second, Ittihad seems a lot better right now as well.

I think the best thing to do right now would be just focusing on which team will have better manager and play better during the season, just because some teams have good squads doesn't mean they will play great. Jorge Jesus is a great manager who has been winning everything since he joined, I think it will definitely be a situation that will not be all that easy to handle for any other team, think about how good they have been, pretty sure they will win the title again.

However, Ittihad trying their very best is important for the league, it creates competition and possibility that Ittihad could do something this year.

[Palakka]

In the last two seasons Al Nassr's problem has always been the same, namely they have problems in their defense line, so that is what hinders them from competing with Al Hilal for the Saudi Pro League title. Unfortunately at the beginning of this season they showed the same problem, namely looking fragile in defense. Cristiano Ronaldo continues to show good performances, only that it is not supported by good play from all lines, especially in defense. Compared to their rivals Al Hilal, Al Nassr is still behind so it is very natural when many people predict that Al Hilal will win the title again this season. Now we can only see whether they will be better or not to compete for the title.

I have no doubt about what you are talking about, because that is how it is, it is very noticeable, but I do not understand something, if we know this, if from here we can see these errors, why does the coach of Al Nassr not correct it? That is something that does not make much sense, because eventually things are always like that, but there must be a way that they can do something, otherwise they will continue repeating the same story. I understand that many already predict that Al Hilal will be champions, but they must really change their formation, because defense is also fundamental in the team.

Al Nassr is a team that surprised us before by bringing Ronaldo into their squad, but after improving their attack line, Al Nassr actually forgot that defense is also a very important factor in supporting their desire to win the league all this time, but that is precisely what we have been think all this time always contrary from what management has thought all this time, but it seems that Al Nassr management is starting to open their eyes because currently they have recruited two new defenders, namely Mo Simakan and also Salem Al Najdi.
Apart from defenders, to be honest, all this time I have noticed that the game played by the Al Nassr coach is too easy for the opponent to read and doesn't look different in each of their matches, when an Al Nassr player gets the ball, of course we can predict that the ball will still end up at Ronaldo feet so that often the opposing players actually stop the flow of the ball from the middle of the field and that it tends to be easier to stop Al Nassr attacks, so I think apart from strengthen their defense line, Al Nassr also at this time deserves to reconsider Luis Castro as their coach.

[beerlover]

the Arsenal we currently see is much different. Arsenal's only ambition this time is to win the championship title which they have always failed to get due to Man City's dominance. So there is no reason for Arsenal to let go of one of their important players. I say this player is important because Arsenal, since last season, has always needed second-string players who are of the same quality as the main players. Because in the 2023 season we will see Arsenal fail due to a lack of quality second-string players. But in 2024 they have a second layer of players who are getting better. And as a result, they even almost won the title with a slight difference from Man City.

Al-ittihad will definitely be targeting other players at this time. and hopefully it works.

While I do agree that Trossard might be a good rotation player for their premier league title hopes, getting some good money for him could have meant that they could get some other player there instead, the problem is not the offer, it's the timing.

The transfer window is closed now, which means that we are seeing premier league teams not willing to sell players they would have to replace, sure you can get players they do not want in their squad, but Trossard would have to be replaced and they can't replace him. If this offer was done a month ago, I bet that Arsenal would have accepted it, take the money and get some other player there instead.

Saudi league having a bit later transfer window allows them to get unwanted players for cheaper when all other teams fail, but at the same time it means that players who are wanted will never leave because they won't be able to get replaced. They can go knock on Chelsea's door, Chelsea has so many players they do not want on their team.

[rahmad2nd]

Honestly, this championship doesn't convince me much, they spent a lot of money to recruit a lot of people but it doesn't take off.
Even Mancini who coached the Italian national team ran away there, nothing is known about him, he didn't cause a sensation or anything.
Obviously he acted like a mercenary.

Let me ask, please explain in more detail regarding the topic you posted. what kind of success do you mean, or maybe you have an interesting opinion or idea in our discussion. related to this League, as well as the arrival of top European players who play in the Saudi Pro League, we often discuss it in many posts in this thread. in short, the Saudi Kingdom and the League organizers have a mission and vision to build football in Saudi Arabia to be more developed, along with plans in the projects they run including business issues. maybe the effects will not be seen in the near future, maybe in the next 5 or 10 years their plans will bear fruit. btw, this is just my personal opinion. as for Mancini, he served as manager of the Saudi Arabian squad. well, what kind of sensation do you mean, I am interested if you channel your opinion regarding the League and Mancini.

[Leviathan.007]

We usually aw some old players like Ronaldo join the Saudi League to end their career and they will choose to play for these Arabian teams because of the more money they can get in these teams while now it seems some young players are also interested in playing for these teams.
Ângelo Gabriel is a former player of Chelsea and he is a 19 player who plays as a winger and now he is going to play for Al Nassr in Saudi Arabia.
 

[TelolettOm]

Al Ahli grabbing Ivan Toney is intriguing. Toney and Firmino together? They're whipping up a special offensive team.

I think Al Ahli did a very smart move by signing Ivan Toney. This player was linked with some top EPL teams, but finally he moves to Al Ahli. Ivan Toney was one of top strikers in EPL, now he will be the machine goal of Al Hilal. Anyway, I think Toney and Firmino can play together. Toney must play as a striker, meanhile Firmino can play as an attacking midfielder or a second striker.

Whatttt? Really?
How in the hell they think Arsenal is gonna sell him after he saves Arsenal the other day in a super important match against Aston Villa. I come back from a long hollidays and the first i see is this, just incredible, im gonna take a nap and when i wake up lets see if this is correct.

As far as I know Arsenal has rejected the offer of Al Ittihad. It is a bit impossible for Arsenal to sell him because he is quite crucial in Arsenal attacking. In some matches, Trossard could show great contribution for Arsenal. Yes, the match against Aston Villa is one of the example of his good contribution. I'm very sure Arsenal doesn't want to lose him.

[tbct_mt2]

I think Al Ahli did a very smart move by signing Ivan Toney. This player was linked with some top EPL teams, but finally he moves to Al Ahli. Ivan Toney was one of top strikers in EPL, now he will be the machine goal of Al Hilal. Anyway, I think Toney and Firmino can play together. Toney must play as a striker, meanhile Firmino can play as an attacking midfielder or a second striker.

Ivan Toney is known with his cold penalty in Euro 2024 and honestly I am very impressed with his shot and his penalty shooting style. He can provide some other things for Al-Ahli attacking system too and Firmino with his time in Liverpool shows that he can support his team mates in attacking system very well. Firmino is a striker with his favorite style of ready sacrificing his own benefit and positions in order to help a team scoring goals and wining matches. Firmino is not obsessed with goals scored by himself.

I believe Ivan Toney and Roberto Firmino can support each other very well in Al-Ahli and if this club becomes stronger and more competitive, it will help to increase general quality and competitiveness of Saudi Professional League.

[Gallar]

Steven is the right recruit for Al Ittihad at this time. The reason is that in this transfer market Al Ittihad has not brought in a left winger who can really be relied on. So Steven's arrival at Al Ittihad will certainly be a very good thing for the front line. The reason is, Al Ittihad's front line now has Mousa Diaby who plays as a right winger, Benzema who plays as a striker, Houssem who plays as a central midfielder and also Steven who plays as a left winger. So with a combination like this, it is very likely that Al Ittihad will be able to become quite a strong competitor in the Saudi Arabian League. So hopefully in the next Al Ittihad match Steven can be played straight away. Because of course Steven's presence will make Al Ittihad's front line even better. The problem is that when he played at Ajax his performance could be said to be quite satisfactory. So hopefully even at Al Ittihad the performance can remain good. And in the upcoming match, Al Ittihad will face Al Wahda. If you look at the head to head record and current performance, it is clear that Al Ittihad can definitely win. So in that match I will bet big on Al Ittihad.

Steven Bergwijn's move to Al Ittihad was also full of stakes. reportedly the Dutch national team coach immediately crossed Bergwijn's name off the list of Dutch national team players because of his move to the Arab club. I don't know why that happened, because actually every player can still develop wherever he is. indeed the competition from the League in Europe is certainly tighter, but I don't think the potential of the player can be measured like that.
indeed many regret Bergwijn's move to Al Ittihad at an age when he still compete in Europe. I hope Bergwijn shows a better quality of play in the Saudi league. that will show that his move does not affect how much potential he has.

Maybe the Dutch national team coach underestimated the level of football in the Saudi Arabian League. So Steven's move to Al Ittihad is considered to reduce the quality of his game. However, as you say, this cannot be simply concluded. The point is that not all players who move to the Saudi Arabian League experience a decline in performance. Because there are several players who actually experienced an increase in performance after joining a club in the Saudi Arabian league. For example, Kante, who also joined Al Ittihad, showed quite a good performance when defending France at the Euro yesterday. Apart from that, currently the Saudi Arabian League can be said to have experienced quite significant progress. This is proven by the number of top European players who have arrived wanting to play in the Saudi Arabian league. So with this in mind, I think the Dutch national team coach is a bit wrong if, for example, Steven is really removed from the list of Dutch national team players. Because I'm sure Steven can definitely develop his talents well.

[Pandu Geddon]

Maybe the Dutch national team coach underestimated the level of football in the Saudi Arabian League. So Steven's move to Al Ittihad is considered to reduce the quality of his game. However, as you say, this cannot be simply concluded. The point is that not all players who move to the Saudi Arabian League experience a decline in performance. Because there are several players who actually experienced an increase in performance after joining a club in the Saudi Arabian league. For example, Kante, who also joined Al Ittihad, showed quite a good performance when defending France at the Euro yesterday. Apart from that, currently the Saudi Arabian League can be said to have experienced quite significant progress. This is proven by the number of top European players who have arrived wanting to play in the Saudi Arabian league. So with this in mind, I think the Dutch national team coach is a bit wrong if, for example, Steven is really removed from the list of Dutch national team players. Because I'm sure Steven can definitely develop his talents well.

However, every coach's thinking must be different. Koeman, who is currently the coach of the Dutch national team, thinks that competition in the Saudi League will not be good for player development.
Steven Bergwijn is a player with a good game, I think it is also very unfortunate to be crossed out of the Dutch national team list. but I believe this decision must have required a lot of consideration. Koeman will not easily consider Steven Bergwijn's move to Saudi as a reason to cross him out. I'm not sure, maybe there are other problems.
Steven Bergwijn must have calculated the risk of moving to Saudi.

[bering]

Maybe the Dutch national team coach underestimated the level of football in the Saudi Arabian League. So Steven's move to Al Ittihad is considered to reduce the quality of his game. However, as you say, this cannot be simply concluded. The point is that not all players who move to the Saudi Arabian League experience a decline in performance. Because there are several players who actually experienced an increase in performance after joining a club in the Saudi Arabian league. For example, Kante, who also joined Al Ittihad, showed quite a good performance when defending France at the Euro yesterday. Apart from that, currently the Saudi Arabian League can be said to have experienced quite significant progress. This is proven by the number of top European players who have arrived wanting to play in the Saudi Arabian league. So with this in mind, I think the Dutch national team coach is a bit wrong if, for example, Steven is really removed from the list of Dutch national team players. Because I'm sure Steven can definitely develop his talents well.

However, every coach's thinking must be different. Koeman, who is currently the coach of the Dutch national team, thinks that competition in the Saudi League will not be good for player development.
Steven Bergwijn is a player with a good game, I think it is also very unfortunate to be crossed out of the Dutch national team list. but I believe this decision must have required a lot of consideration. Koeman will not easily consider Steven Bergwijn's move to Saudi as a reason to cross him out. I'm not sure, maybe there are other problems.
Steven Bergwijn must have calculated the risk of moving to Saudi.

Koeman says why he decide to not putting Steven Bergwijn to Netherlands national team again because as a player Steven Bergwijn motivation has been change because his current motivation is money so that's why Koenan isn't interesting anymore to called Steven Bergwijn to playing with Netherlands but indeed moved to Saudi Pro League is risky moved for Steven Bergwijn and even some of the managers hasn't considering to called the players from this league because they considers Saudi Pro League is lack of competitive compared to European league

But i think Koeman shouldn't be judge the player on which league the player is playing in because in my opinion whichever league they play in but as long as they have a good performance i think those players is deserved to playing for their national team including Steven Bergwijn and for an example i have seen the players who playing at Saudi Pro League but they still regularly defend their national teams such as Ronaldo, Kante, Benzema and Sadio Mane

[mammusu]

Maybe the Dutch national team coach underestimated the level of football in the Saudi Arabian League. So Steven's move to Al Ittihad is considered to reduce the quality of his game. However, as you say, this cannot be simply concluded. The point is that not all players who move to the Saudi Arabian League experience a decline in performance. Because there are several players who actually experienced an increase in performance after joining a club in the Saudi Arabian league. For example, Kante, who also joined Al Ittihad, showed quite a good performance when defending France at the Euro yesterday. Apart from that, currently the Saudi Arabian League can be said to have experienced quite significant progress. This is proven by the number of top European players who have arrived wanting to play in the Saudi Arabian league. So with this in mind, I think the Dutch national team coach is a bit wrong if, for example, Steven is really removed from the list of Dutch national team players. Because I'm sure Steven can definitely develop his talents well.

However, every coach's thinking must be different. Koeman, who is currently the coach of the Dutch national team, thinks that competition in the Saudi League will not be good for player development.
Steven Bergwijn is a player with a good game, I think it is also very unfortunate to be crossed out of the Dutch national team list. but I believe this decision must have required a lot of consideration. Koeman will not easily consider Steven Bergwijn's move to Saudi as a reason to cross him out. I'm not sure, maybe there are other problems.
Steven Bergwijn must have calculated the risk of moving to Saudi.

Each coach has different thoughts in choosing Players and Koeman, in my opinion, is actually the coach who is too naive at the moment by dropping Bergwijn from the netherland national team ahead of the UEFA Nations match, Bergwijn has been an important player who often makes a lot of contributions and also supports the netherland attacks from the left wing line but his decision to leave for Al ittihad actually meant that he no longer had the opportunity to play in the national team at this time, what Koeman did in my opinion no sense at all and looked like a stupid coach who immediately punished a player for just his move and not his performance, the Saudi Arabian league is starting to be very competitive at the moment, so it would be better for Koeman to wait and see how Bergwijn plays in the Arab League and not immediately write him off from squad, even players like Ronaldo, Mane and Kante can still play very good when play with his country even though they have been playing in the Arab league all this time,  I don't know what makes Koeman think if Bergwijn is no longer worthy of playing for the national team just because he joined Al Ittihad at this time?
In my opinion, Koeman treatment of Bergwijn is completely unfair, because previously Wijnaldum, who moved to Al Ettifad from PSG, still had a place in the netherland squad, so why not Bergwijn?

[slapper]

~snip~

Maybe the Dutch national team coach underestimated the level of football in the Saudi Arabian League. So Steven's move to Al Ittihad is considered to reduce the quality of his game. However, as you say, this cannot be simply concluded. The point is that not all players who move to the Saudi Arabian League experience a decline in performance. Because there are several players who actually experienced an increase in performance after joining a club in the Saudi Arabian league. For example, Kante, who also joined Al Ittihad, showed quite a good performance when defending France at the Euro yesterday. Apart from that, currently the Saudi Arabian League can be said to have experienced quite significant progress. This is proven by the number of top European players who have arrived wanting to play in the Saudi Arabian league. So with this in mind, I think the Dutch national team coach is a bit wrong if, for example, Steven is really removed from the list of Dutch national team players. Because I'm sure Steven can definitely develop his talents well.

Look, Koeman's got his style, every coach does. Saying the Saudi league's is a career graveyard is old-fashioned thinking, though. Ronaldo, Benzema, Kante - these players aren't slowing down simply because they're in Saudi Arabia. Surely, Bergwijn's action relates to the money. But let's see how he plays. Who cares why he's there if he's killing it, scoring goals, generating chances? Kante is in Saudi and still a beast for France

Koeman's worried about motivation? That's fair, but it can't be the only factor. Like everyone else, Bergwijn's must earn his place. The Saudi league is growing really serious. They draw elite talent, not only purchase has-beens. European coaches have to get ready. This is no more some retired league. This is a novel difficulty; the intelligent ones will adjust

[OcTradism]

Look, Koeman's got his style, every coach does. Saying the Saudi league's is a career graveyard is old-fashioned thinking, though. Ronaldo, Benzema, Kante - these players aren't slowing down simply because they're in Saudi Arabia. Surely, Bergwijn's action relates to the money. But let's see how he plays. Who cares why he's there if he's killing it, scoring goals, generating chances? Kante is in Saudi and still a beast for France

Years ago, before the rise of Saudi Professional League, there was hyping Chinese Super League and several star players from Europe moved to China. One of them returned to Europe and succeed in this continent again, he is Witsel, the Belgium midfielder.

If a player is not too old, he can return to Europe and start a second chapter in Europe again, it's not big deal. The challenge is only their talent is enough to play well in Europe or not, it's more important. Kante, Benzema and Ronaldo can still play in Europe but their ages are old enough to consider of career downside and even retirement. There is no surprise if they no longer can play too well in Europe like 5 years ago as time and ageing are unavoidable threats on career of any player.