Saudi Professional League 2023/2024

[Pandu Geddon]

Al-Hilal actually are very disappointed with their bet on Neymar and big money spent to this player while in return they got very limited contributions from him. With latest things around Neymar, chance for him to return to Europe is very small too and maybe he will have to look for another club in Saudi Professional League or return to his home land Brazil to play very last seasons in his career.

As happy as a club is to get a star player, it still can't cover up the disappointment towards its players, especially since there is no insight generated from the player on the field. I often see Neymar on social media actively attending an event and many comment on whether he is seriously injured or not because if he is in bad condition he should be able to show more respect to Al-Hilal and this seems like an arbitrary act.

In the Saudi league alone he has no control to play the match let alone return to Europe and it feels very impossible. The most realistic thing for him is to retire after making a lot of money here, even if he returns to Brazil no one can pay his salary and besides that it will only add problems for the team he is defending and I don't think that's good.

Neymar is often injured and it is bad luck for Al Hilal because they have to accept the fact that Neymar has a long injury. The club certainly has not received any benefits from the expensive purchase. But if he can fix everything after recovering, he can still get a place in the team.

Returning to Europe can only happen when Neymar is willing to play in a team with a fairly low salary. And I think that can only be done when he has free transfer status. So he can choose a club that really wants him to serve for the rest of his career as a professional player.

[swogerino]

Al-Hilal actually are very disappointed with their bet on Neymar and big money spent to this player while in return they got very limited contributions from him. With latest things around Neymar, chance for him to return to Europe is very small too and maybe he will have to look for another club in Saudi Professional League or return to his home land Brazil to play very last seasons in his career.

As happy as a club is to get a star player, it still can't cover up the disappointment towards its players, especially since there is no insight generated from the player on the field. I often see Neymar on social media actively attending an event and many comment on whether he is seriously injured or not because if he is in bad condition he should be able to show more respect to Al-Hilal and this seems like an arbitrary act.

In the Saudi league alone he has no control to play the match let alone return to Europe and it feels very impossible. The most realistic thing for him is to retire after making a lot of money here, even if he returns to Brazil no one can pay his salary and besides that it will only add problems for the team he is defending and I don't think that's good.

Neymar is often injured and it is bad luck for Al Hilal because they have to accept the fact that Neymar has a long injury. The club certainly has not received any benefits from the expensive purchase. But if he can fix everything after recovering, he can still get a place in the team.

Returning to Europe can only happen when Neymar is willing to play in a team with a fairly low salary. And I think that can only be done when he has free transfer status. So he can choose a club that really wants him to serve for the rest of his career as a professional player.

That is going to be difficult for these guys coming playing to Saudi League and getting pay really well despite their ages, for sure no other team in Europe would pay them as much as they are being paid in Saudi Arabia and Saudi Arabia is the richest country on earth so difficult to compete with them in this regard. Al Hilal is a great team, the reigning Champion I think but that the best contribution to the team has been from Alexander Mitrovic if I am not mistaken although Al Hilal overall has much better players than Al Nassr and that is why they have won, Cristiano alone at Al Nassr is not that can do much although he has done a great job there and is loving football here, as he said I see myself playing for at least another 2 years here at Al Nassr.

[Uruhara]

Saudi Arabia is currently undergoing the 3rd round of the Asian Zone World Cup qualifiers, in their first match they faced Indonesia, and surprisingly they had to be held to a draw by Indonesia which is ranked far below them. What is in the spotlight is because Mancini (Saudi Arabia coach) complained about the playing time that the players he has in the current squad get.
https://www.saudigazette.com.sa/article/645341/Sports/Mancini-highlights-lack-of-regular-playing-time-as-key-issue-for-Saudi-players
Indeed, almost most of the players he brought for the qualifying round barely got playing minutes in the domestic league, while there are not many options for the Italian coach to find players who play regularly at the club. Of course this is difficult for the coach, because of the limited players he has. Well, this might also be an evaluation because the teams in the Saudi Pro League themselves are actively bringing in players from Europe.

Well, they were held to a draw by Indonesia. but Indonesia has become a team that cannot be underestimated since they have a coach from South Korea, namely Shin Tae-yong. So I was not surprised by the draw they got against Saudi Arabia.

It's just that Saudi Arabia's performance is not as good as usual. And when talking about Saudi Arabian players, they actually have a little more difficulty competing in their domestic league, especially in the SPL. Because we know that now every club in the SPL has more foreign players, especially from Europe. Many European star players have been brought into the SPL, making Saudi Arabian players have to work harder to be able to compete at the club. But this situation can actually encourage Saudi Arabian players to train even harder. Because currently they are competing with European star players whose quality is beyond doubt. And I think sooner or later the Saudi Arabian players will also improve in quality following the European players. For example, several Saudi Arabian players at Al-Nassr are played quite often and get more playing time because their quality is very good.

[AirtelBuzz]

I believe that it is going to be a trouble for him and there is really no way to recover from there at all. The best thing they can do right now would be making sure that Neymar finishes his contract there, or (I know it is near impossible) find a team to get him. Even terminating his contract for cheaper than what he is owed would be fine.

Al-Hilal actually are very disappointed with their bet on Neymar and big money spent to this player while in return they got very limited contributions from him. With latest things around Neymar, chance for him to return to Europe is very small too and maybe he will have to look for another club in Saudi Professional League or return to his home land Brazil to play very last seasons in his career.

Neymar Jr. was one of the best forwards among the young emerging players. But with the change of time, he seems to have lost himself i.e. wasted his brilliant career. Maybe the number of injuries is more responsible for this because he has been injured more than the number of matches he has played.

The Brazilian forward was bought by Saudi club Al Hilal for a record fee mainly to bolster their squad. However, Neymar has not been able to play many matches since joining the club, he has not been able to participate in any matches for Al Hilal for the past one year. But according to sources in Saudi Arabia, Neymar Jr. is now fully healthy and now he is working to maintain his fitness, maybe we will see him on the field for Al Hilal very soon.

[Rabata]

Al-Hilal actually are very disappointed with their bet on Neymar and big money spent to this player while in return they got very limited contributions from him. With latest things around Neymar, chance for him to return to Europe is very small too and maybe he will have to look for another club in Saudi Professional League or return to his home land Brazil to play very last seasons in his career.

As happy as a club is to get a star player, it still can't cover up the disappointment towards its players, especially since there is no insight generated from the player on the field. I often see Neymar on social media actively attending an event and many comment on whether he is seriously injured or not because if he is in bad condition he should be able to show more respect to Al-Hilal and this seems like an arbitrary act.

In the Saudi league alone he has no control to play the match let alone return to Europe and it feels very impossible. The most realistic thing for him is to retire after making a lot of money here, even if he returns to Brazil no one can pay his salary and besides that it will only add problems for the team he is defending and I don't think that's good.

Neymar is often injured and it is bad luck for Al Hilal because they have to accept the fact that Neymar has a long injury. The club certainly has not received any benefits from the expensive purchase. But if he can fix everything after recovering, he can still get a place in the team.

Neymar is one of the most prominent names in football. There are several international players in Al Hilal Neymar at the top of the list. However, his popularity will gradually decrease if he cannot be a regular on the field. His series of injuries kept him out of the match. Even after Saudi club Al Hilal signed him, the club has not been able to do anything with him. No doubt a big loss for them. After spending huge money, if the situation is not created to bring him to the field, then there is nothing to do. Agree with you that if he recovers, certainly he will be given a chance to play.

[len01]

In the Saudi league alone he has no control to play the match let alone return to Europe and it feels very impossible. The most realistic thing for him is to retire after making a lot of money here, even if he returns to Brazil no one can pay his salary and besides that it will only add problems for the team he is defending and I don't think that's good.

Since Neymar injury and since he was still with PSG, I think it's time for Neymar to stop forcing himself to continue playing football just for the money. It doesn't mean that I'm belittling Neymar but he is no longer productive because the injury he suffered made it very rare for him to appear on the field. On the one hand, considering his almost old age and unstable physical condition, he should have thought longer than forcing himself to continue being a football player but making the team that recruited him disappointed on the one hand endangering himself. Maybe my speculation is that after this season ends, Al Hilal might have a plan to terminate the contract rather than having to waste too much money.

[armanda90]

Since Neymar injury and since he was still with PSG, I think it's time for Neymar to stop forcing himself to continue playing football just for the money. It doesn't mean that I'm belittling Neymar but he is no longer productive because the injury he suffered made it very rare for him to appear on the field. On the one hand, considering his almost old age and unstable physical condition, he should have thought longer than forcing himself to continue being a football player but making the team that recruited him disappointed on the one hand endangering himself. Maybe my speculation is that after this season ends, Al Hilal might have a plan to terminate the contract rather than having to waste too much money.

Very bad investment did by Al Hilal when spending much money for Neymar transfer fees and paid him as most expensive salary receiving after longer time injury and only 5 appearance almost two season.
I don't see any good news about Neymar recovery and when return to the club for playing in domestic league or get participants in AFC Champion League.
Almost one season, Neymar got injured and until right now Al Hilal can't using him until not exact update when making debut again for Al Hilal, its large risk face by Al Hilal because can't reach mutual contract and waiting until his contract expiry before leaving team. I am pessimistic with Neymar will reach above 20 appearance for Al Hilal because not good news yet about his injury on recovery progress.

[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.
 

I think the reason why most Saudi Pro League clubs started with signing veteran players in the past was because these players were big names in football and were globally recognized so in their attempt to make the league popular among football fans across the globe, they were going for these veteran and popular footballers instead of signing young talents that will not attract global audience to the league. To an extent, they've been able to achieve their aim of attracting global attention to football in the Middle East country which is why they are now signing young talents.
Signing Ângelo Gabriel was a good transfer deal for Al Nassr even when I think they needed to sign quality defender instead of a winger. Hopefully for the Brazilian winger, he succeeds in his new club.

The Arabs were smart in this marketing aspect when they brought famous players from Europe. But they make the mistake of not being able to hire famous coaches so that they can also have a good quality league. If the Saudi Arabian teams focused on hiring good foreign coaches, then we would see a league with good quality and they wouldn't need to constantly be hiring famous players. Because honestly, what's the point of hiring famous players when they have great coaches in most of the teams in the league?

Steven Bergwijn, presented and unveiled as new Al Ittihad player from Ajax.

Number 3️⃣4️⃣ for Bergwijn.

source: https://x.com/FabrizioRomano/status/1831757380335628437

How many more foreign players do they need? And what about the native players? Because I don't see anyone speaking well of any native player. Al Nassr only talks about Ronaldo, it seems like Al Nassr's native players are non-existent. Al Ittihad has now signed Bergwijn, and I haven't seen anyone speak well of any native Al Ittihad player either.

Talking about Al Nassr and the player they want to hire, it seems they are targeting another player and we are going to see soon another top European player joining this team. I remember when I said Ronaldo is more than just a player in Al Nassr and he makes the player to join this team some people rejected this theory but now it seems he puts the team under pressure to hire another from Manchester City.
Mateo Kovačić is currently linked to Al Nassr and Ronaldo is the main reason, they were teammates in Real Madrid.
They are ready for Mateo Kovačić salary six times more than what he gets in Manchester City.

[Blitzboy]

Al-Hilal actually are very disappointed with their bet on Neymar and big money spent to this player while in return they got very limited contributions from him. With latest things around Neymar, chance for him to return to Europe is very small too and maybe he will have to look for another club in Saudi Professional League or return to his home land Brazil to play very last seasons in his career.

As happy as a club is to get a star player, it still can't cover up the disappointment towards its players, especially since there is no insight generated from the player on the field. I often see Neymar on social media actively attending an event and many comment on whether he is seriously injured or not because if he is in bad condition he should be able to show more respect to Al-Hilal and this seems like an arbitrary act.

In the Saudi league alone he has no control to play the match let alone return to Europe and it feels very impossible. The most realistic thing for him is to retire after making a lot of money here, even if he returns to Brazil no one can pay his salary and besides that it will only add problems for the team he is defending and I don't think that's good.

As a superstar, Neymar is expected to perform. His injuries have plagued him. Its hard to shine on the bench. His social media posts make people think he's more interested in partying than playing. Perhaps he's attempting to keep upbeat during rehabilitation. We know Neymar and other outstanding Brazilian players have the Brazilian party virus.

If fully fit, Neymar may turn things around at Al-Hilal. This is world-class talent. When on his game, he's unstoppable. Retirement? He's too young! Relocating to Europe may be possible, but it wont be easy. He must take a huge pay cut. Saudi clubs have vast pockets that European teams cant match. Perhaps thats what Neymar needs. New start, chance to show himself. European competition is different. Perhaps it will rekindle his passion.

[Volgastallion]

Mmmm i dont think Manchester City and Pep Guardiola are gonna let Kovacic go, he is the main substitube of Rodri, in fact he is being one of the starters and most solid players in this manchester city since Rodri is injured.

But money is money, and money speak very loud sadly.

About arabian being smarters in the marketing, i dont know if that is 100% true because when you ahve so much money to already wash the others is super easy to make good things.

[bering]

Mmmm i dont think Manchester City and Pep Guardiola are gonna let Kovacic go, he is the main substitube of Rodri, in fact he is being one of the starters and most solid players in this manchester city since Rodri is injured.

But money is money, and money speak very loud sadly.

About arabian being smarters in the marketing, i dont know if that is 100% true because when you ahve so much money to already wash the others is super easy to make good things.

Pep Guardiola has been confirmed that he is still needed Kovacic because this player can be played as the substutition player of Rodri but indeed according to the latest news Kovacic was into Al Nassr radar even Ronaldo personally likes to Kovacic game of style and he want Al Nassr to bought Kovacic from Manchester City but Kovacic has make a statement about this rumour that he will see the situation until January next year or winter transfer window because if he doesn't get many chances to play maybe Kovacic will thinking his future in Manchester City and not impossible in January he will accept the offer from Al Nassr and playing at Saudi Pro League

[rahmad2nd]

~~

I agree with your point about Al Nassr needing to strengthen their defense. Bringing in top European players to the SPL can definitely help improve the league's overall quality. As for national team coaches having concerns about young players moving to the SPL, I believe that exposure to different playing styles and higher levels of competition can actually benefit their development. So, I think it's a positive step for the league and for the players themselves.

I just reviewed the Al Nassr team squad, it seems they have recruited some new arrivals. After Alex Telles left and several other players, Al Nassr brought in several new arrivals. There is something that caught my attention, Al Nassr brought in two wingers and two defenders. However, one of them is a local defender. At least, Al Nassr made changes to make their team stronger with the players they brought in. Whether it's a front line player, as well as two defenders. Regarding the last point you said in this post, it is clear that this is one of the most beneficial impacts for the Saudi League itself. Well, Al Nassr has brought in several new recruits, will the new arrivals immediately perform optimally with Al Nassr. It is worth waiting for, especially Al Nassr's overall performance.

[bitgolden]

Neymar may still play, and I do not think that he is expected to actually contribute much, the point is not to actually have him contribute a lot with his talents, which he can still do if he is healthy and plays well, but the point is marketing. It has always been like that, aside from Ronaldo, not that many players that got huge amounts of money got that much contribution.



Players like Benzema and Neymar got paid, but didn't do much at all, at least Benzema scored a few, but in the end the money paid to them wasn't too play well, it was for marketing purposes. I think that still works, and if they play, it's even better, even if they play badly that would still be a marketing, because "Neymar sucked" is a news and would still get attention to Saudi Arabian league.

[Issa56]

Mmmm i dont think Manchester City and Pep Guardiola are gonna let Kovacic go, he is the main substitube of Rodri, in fact he is being one of the starters and most solid players in this manchester city since Rodri is injured.

But money is money, and money speak very loud sadly.

About arabian being smarters in the marketing, i dont know if that is 100% true because when you ahve so much money to already wash the others is super easy to make good things.

 Kovacic has been playing some really impressive matches for Manchester City lately, and with his strong performances, I don't think Pep Guardiola will consider letting him leave anytime soon. Kovacic as become quite important for Manchester City currently, especially with Rodri currently sidelined due to injury. In fact, I don't think Kovacic himself would be interested in moving to a Saudi Arabian club at this point, as he is enjoying regular playing time at Manchester City. Staying at the Manchester City will offers him a great chance to win more trophies and enhance his career record.While it's true that Saudi Arabian clubs are always willing to spend more money to sign players they are interested in, I find it unlikely that they will be able to lure Kovacic away from Manchester City right now. However, we will have to wait and see what happens in the future, especially in the next transfer window, when Manchester City may look for a replacement for Rodri foe whenever it out for injury.

[baeva]

Al-Hilal actually are very disappointed with their bet on Neymar and big money spent to this player while in return they got very limited contributions from him. With latest things around Neymar, chance for him to return to Europe is very small too and maybe he will have to look for another club in Saudi Professional League or return to his home land Brazil to play very last seasons in his career.

As happy as a club is to get a star player, it still can't cover up the disappointment towards its players, especially since there is no insight generated from the player on the field. I often see Neymar on social media actively attending an event and many comment on whether he is seriously injured or not because if he is in bad condition he should be able to show more respect to Al-Hilal and this seems like an arbitrary act.

In the Saudi league alone he has no control to play the match let alone return to Europe and it feels very impossible. The most realistic thing for him is to retire after making a lot of money here, even if he returns to Brazil no one can pay his salary and besides that it will only add problems for the team he is defending and I don't think that's good.

I think if he decides to go back to Brazil, he will definitely not play for money. He's already made his money for a very long time and he doesn't have to worry about that. But he can afford to play for his own pleasure. I think when he comes out after treatment of his injury he won't even be at the level of Saudi Arabia, so he should definitely either retire or choose a weaker club.

[TelolettOm]

Yeah, with the arrival of Ivan Toney, Al-Ahli's performance should improve because previously they had some great players. This will make the competition in the Saudi Pro League even fiercer but somehow I'm not sure if Al-Ahli is aiming for the title I mean they can only compete in top 3-4 no more and Al-Nassr and Al-Hilal will remain the main candidates to win the title. In this transfer window only a few European players came not like last season,

Everyone expects the improvement of Al Ahli performance with the arrival of Toney. However, it depends on how Toney can adapt and work together with other players, too. I won't instantly make a prediction about the competition of the title race, I think Al Hilal is still the favorite team to win the league. But it is still very early of the season, it is not impossible that there will be a big change in the next few matches. However, it won't be easy for Al Ahli because they will play against Al Nassr in the upcoming match. If they can win this match, it is very possible to join the race of the title. But if they fail to get points, the reasonable target should be the top 5.

I agree with your point about Al Nassr needing to strengthen their defense. Bringing in top European players to the SPL can definitely help improve the league's overall quality. As for national team coaches having concerns about young players moving to the SPL, I believe that exposure to different playing styles and higher levels of competition can actually benefit their development. So, I think it's a positive step for the league and for the players themselves.

Al Nassr has tried to strengthen their defense. Currently, they signed Mohamed Simakan, he is a new center-back for Al Nassr. It seems Luís Castro wants Laporte-Simakan as the main center-backs for this season. But sadly, they have no strong defenders in right and left backs. Alex Telles left the club and Al Nassr can't sign another new European players. They have 10 foreign players now, they are unable to sign new non-Saudi players.

Related sources:
- https://www.transfermarkt.com/al-nassr-fc/legionaere/verein/18544
- https://www.transfermarkt.com/al-nassr-fc/transfers/verein/18544

[Docnaster]

Neymar may still play, and I do not think that he is expected to actually contribute much, the point is not to actually have him contribute a lot with his talents, which he can still do if he is healthy and plays well, but the point is marketing. It has always been like that, aside from Ronaldo, not that many players that got huge amounts of money got that much contribution.

Players like Benzema and Neymar got paid, but didn't do much at all, at least Benzema scored a few, but in the end the money paid to them wasn't too play well, it was for marketing purposes. I think that still works, and if they play, it's even better, even if they play badly that would still be a marketing, because "Neymar sucked" is a news and would still get attention to Saudi Arabian league.

For a player with that posseses the kind of fanbase Neymar enjoys, I understand what you mean and how his influence is going to positively affect the Saudi Pro League if he returns to playing for his club. But we just have to remember that it was injury that sidelined him and he has can't do much control when he'll be injured or not. It's been reported that he's back to training and will likely feature for his club in no distant time so let's keep believing he makes that come back sooner than expected.

[tusandii]

Neymar may still play, and I do not think that he is expected to actually contribute much, the point is not to actually have him contribute a lot with his talents, which he can still do if he is healthy and plays well, but the point is marketing. It has always been like that, aside from Ronaldo, not that many players that got huge amounts of money got that much contribution.

Players like Benzema and Neymar got paid, but didn't do much at all, at least Benzema scored a few, but in the end the money paid to them wasn't too play well, it was for marketing purposes. I think that still works, and if they play, it's even better, even if they play badly that would still be a marketing, because "Neymar sucked" is a news and would still get attention to Saudi Arabian league.

For a player with that posseses the kind of fanbase Neymar enjoys, I understand what you mean and how his influence is going to positively affect the Saudi Pro League if he returns to playing for his club. But we just have to remember that it was injury that sidelined him and he has can't do much control when he'll be injured or not. It's been reported that he's back to training and will likely feature for his club in no distant time so let's keep believing he makes that come back sooner than expected.

Having an injury is a bad thing for a player, no one wants to experience that, so it is a risk for a player and also the club that recruits him if something unwanted happens, no one can be blamed, but Al Hilal has also received increased marketing thanks to the arrival of star player Neymar, so even though Al Hilal pays a lot for players who cannot contribute much to the club, at least Al Hilal has earned a big name and got a lot of sponsors. To return to the club, Neymar must train a lot because he has been absent for a very long time, maybe he will be played but not for a full season, only in a few matches, the important thing is that he can return as usual.

[OcTradism]

For a player with that posseses the kind of fanbase Neymar enjoys, I understand what you mean and how his influence is going to positively affect the Saudi Pro League if he returns to playing for his club.

He only can contribute good marketing effects if he can have appearance on field in actual matches for Al-Hilal. He has big fan base but if he continues to be absent months by months because of different injuries, the club will not receive considerable marketing effects, shirt sale effects from Neymar. They invested a lot of money to this player and in return, so far we can say Al-Hilal seriously failed.

Having an injury is a bad thing for a player, no one wants to experience that, so it is a risk for a player and also the club that recruits him if something unwanted happens, no one can be blamed

By getting many injuries and many severe ones, Neymar recent years has been increasing his time with injuries, recoveries and trainings than for actual matches. No club want to pay lucrative salary to a star player who can not play for them too often. Neymar is such a player in the last two seasons since his transfer from PSG to Al-Hilal.

but Al Hilal has also received increased marketing thanks to the arrival of star player Neymar

Do you have figures to prove that Al-Hilal got benefits in marketing and income from Neymar?

I don't believe it to be honest and Neymar is under a level of Cristiano Ronaldo in fan base and marketing effects.

[rendravolt]

Al Nassr has tried to strengthen their defense. Currently, they signed Mohamed Simakan, he is a new center-back for Al Nassr. It seems Luís Castro wants Laporte-Simakan as the main center-backs for this season. But sadly, they have no strong defenders in right and left backs. Alex Telles left the club and Al Nassr can't sign another new European players. They have 10 foreign players now, they are unable to sign new non-Saudi players.

Related sources:
- https://www.transfermarkt.com/al-nassr-fc/legionaere/verein/18544
- https://www.transfermarkt.com/al-nassr-fc/transfers/verein/18544

I still wonder why Al-Nassr chose to terminate his contract with Alex Telles to be able to bring in Mohamed Simakan, even though they know that there are not enough wing-back options available at the moment. Maybe Mohamed Simakan can be used as a wing-back too but he will not be as fast as Alex Telles in helping the attack and the rest he is only strong in defense.

The restriction on foreign players is also a factor that must be obeyed by the Saudi league team and now Al-Nassr certainly only depends on the depth they have. Maybe they can still play optimally but I doubt this will bother them enough, especially if they still concede a large number of goals during the season there will definitely be another overhaul in the upcoming transfer market.