Saudi Arabia have been the surprise package of the World Cup so far, and there has, inevitably, already been discussion about some of the Saudi’s best players getting big moves in the near future.
The likes of Hassan Tambakti, Mohammed Al-Owais and Salem Al-Dawsari all looked worthy of a transfer when they played against Argentina on Monday evening, and inevitably, there has been a bit of chatter about Newcastle making some sort of move due to their ownership’s links with the national team.
Al-Dawsari, in particular, after his wondergoal is bound to be the subject of much speculation, and Newcastle have been linked with a move for the winger in the past.
However, while Newcastle’s Saudi owners may be tempted to sign their country’s hero in order to boost the Magpies’ popularity back home, Newcastle must be wary of falling into this trap of signing Saudi players based on performances at the World Cup.
Signing players off the back of impressive World Cup performances can be one of the riskiest and most damaging transfer policies a team can implement – just ask Liverpool.
Before Saudi Arabia beat Argentina, the biggest modern-era World Cup upset came back in 2002 when Senegal beat France in the group stages.
Of course, after the tournament, the Senegalese stars made their way to the Premier League, and Liverpool thought they had struck gold with El Hadji Diouf and Salif Diao.
However, as is often the case, these players’ World Cup performances were deceptive, and the Senegal stars didn’t live up to their hype on Merseyside.
The same would likely happen today if the Saudi Arabian heroes were brought to Newcastle or any other Premier League club for that matter.
Turning up in a tournament that is largely geared towards middle-eastern teams being successful and thriving in one of the most passionate atmospheres a player is likely to experience is completely different to playing in the Premier League week-in, week-out, and every club watching needs to be wary of this.
Newcastle will inevitably be linked with some Saudi stars in the coming weeks, but they should not be signing any of these unproven, unfancied players.
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