The Saudi leader confirms Ruben Neves, recognizes Bernardo Silva, and warns Chevrin

After accusing Saudi Arabia of making the same mistake that China madeWhen he once seduced world-class players with millionaire salaries and then abandoned a bold but unsustainable strategy, Aleksandr Ceferin took the change from Hafez Al-Medlej, a Saudi who heads the AFC’s Marketing Committee.

“We are only at the beginning. From now on, all transferable football players will be a target for Saudi clubs. China’s experience has nothing to do with our experience, it was purely marketing. Football is not very popular there. In Arabia we have a government project and it will not be limited to four Big teams, rather it includes all of them, he said in statements to Al-Kora newspaper, “because the Saudis’ passion for football has no limits.”

He was sure, Ceferin recalled, that Europe would not lose the best players who had reached the peak of their careers and emphasized that it was the players at the end of their careers who made the decision to head to the Middle East for the last chance to make contracts more advantageous than the ones they already had.

Hafiz Al-Medlej also disagreed with this, giving the impending transfer of a Portuguese player as an example and speaking of his intention to impress another Portuguese international. “This is false. We do not sign players who have finished. Al-Hilal will appoint 26-year-old Ruben Neves, who was wanted by Barcelona. Benzema joined Al-Ittihad after winning the Golden Ball award at Real Madrid. (…) We expect the arrival of Bernardo Silva, from Manchester City, and we must also start working on appointing Mohamed Salah, ”he pointed out.

The same official also touched on possible fears of UEFA losing stars to other latitudes of the world. ′′ The departure of the big stars in Europe will be a severe blow to the Champions League, which will lose much of its luster. We have the example of the Spanish league, which lost a lot with the departure of Cristiano Ronaldo to Juventus. And he lost more when Messi went to Paris Saint-Germain. Analyze the departure of stars from Europe, which will affect sponsorship and television contracts ».