A new chart from the website Statista places into context Saudi Arabia’s spending this transfer season vis-a-vis other top leagues, showing that the money spent on transfers by Saudi clubs this summer matches or exceeds the investments made by clubs from European top leagues, with the notable exception of the Premier League.
Statista, using data from Transfermarkt.com, said clubs from the Saudi Pro League have collectively spent $489 million so far this summer, roughly on par with France’s Ligue 1, the Germany Bundesliga and ahead of Spain’s La Liga.
“Looking at net transfer spending, i.e. spending minus income, the Premier Leage is the only league to exceed the Saudi investment. While the Serie A, the Bundesliga and La Liga are running a significant transfer surplus, net spending almost equals total spending for the Saudi league, as it’s been a one-way street so far this transfer window.”
As the report notes, while “convincing players to leave European club football behind has often taken a lot of effort (as in: even larger checks) on the part of the Saudi clubs, convincing the selling clubs was significantly easier in many cases.”
