It’s no secret that the Saudi Pro League have been attempting to hoover up some of the best talents around England and Europe.
Chief among these was Cristiano Ronaldo back in the January transfer market of 2023 and since the Portuguese star has arrived in Spain, many of Europe’s top talents have followed.
Riyad Mahrez, Karim Benzema, Sergej Milinkovic Savic, Neymar and Roberto Firmino are a wide range of names who were attracted to the riches and the possibility of kickstarting a new league outside of the dominance of Europe’s top five leagues.
However, since then, things have not really worked out for the Saudi Pro League with there being a struggle for these star names to attract the big crowds in the Middle East.
Al-Riyadh, for example, had just 133 fans in their stadium for the game against Al-Khaleej, according to The Economic Times.
Benzema project has not worked out
One name who was lured from Real Madrid was Benzema but just a few months on from his decision to leave the Spanish capital, it seems the French forward willing to consuder returning to Europe.
HITC Football reported last week that Manchester United, who are keen on a short-term striker recruitment in January, would not be signing the 34-year-old forward this month.
Sources in the Saudi Pro League, however, are insistent that the Middle Eastern league would be very reluctant to lose one of their top earners.
Benzema has scored 12 goals in 20 appearances since joining Al-Ittihad on a free transfer back in June 2023 after his contract at Madrid expired, while also providing five assists.
Despite this, Benzema is seemingly keen on moving away from the Pro League and this could open up a spot for another world-class player to replace him.
Salah interest
Kylian Mbappe was the subject of intense interest from the Pro League but it is Mohamed Salah who was the centre of a prolonged chase from Al-Ittihad, ironically.
The Saudi side, according to the Daily Mail, lodged an audacious £200 million bid for the Egyptian forward but Jurgen Klopp’s Liverpool did not entertain any of these offers.
If Benzema were to leave, however, you wonder if the Pro League side would reignite their interest in the former AS Roma winger.
There’s no question that Salah, due to his influence in the Middle East, would be instantly the biggest player in the division, which would surely be a big draw for the 31-year-old.
As Liverpool fight on all four fronts this season, any talk over Salah’s future will surely wait until the summer and the end of this exciting campaign.
Nevertheless, if Benzema leaves, expect the talk over Salah to kick into high gear in the summer.
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