07 Aug 2025 10:21:02
I was just reading an article about Nunez's deal and the fact that he will be on a salary of around £20m a year at Al Hilal (comparable to Salah's with us) . I went exploring on Capology to see other salaries, and wow, just wow!
Ronaldo is on, apparently, £3.5m per week! Mane is on £670k per week, Laporte on over £400k pw, all at Al Nassr
Mahrez is on £875k pw, Toney on £427k pw, Firmino on £318k pw, all at Al Ahli.
Wijnaldum is on £288k pw ayt Al-Ettifaq.
Benzema on £837k, Kante on £419k, Fab on £235k at Al-Ittihad.
I know they paid a lot in Saudi, but wow, my mind is boggled!
07 Aug 2025 10:32:19
To be honest that's the only way they can convince a top athlete to give up playing and living in Europe and do that in a desert for a sports washing operation with no fans.
07 Aug 2025 10:56:49
Don’t forget tax free as well.
07 Aug 2025 11:07:58
Makes sense for players who have won everything possible to win to move their and have a payday in their 30s.
07 Aug 2025 11:18:49
Did Hendo ever get paid there or was the contract voided/ Stiffed? I hope players always remember that things are rarely better on the other side of the rainbow and chasing the money.
Some of the most unhappy, miserable people I meet are ones who are well off.
07 Aug 2025 11:19:49
It does make you wonder what the long term plan is behind it all.
07 Aug 2025 11:22:59
It's the only way to get players to go and play in front of non-league size crowds.
07 Aug 2025 11:34:00
Isn’t it only tax free if you stay in country for 3 years.
That’s what caught Hendo out. He moved out there to grow the sport and unbelievably achieved it in 6 months and got hit with a massive tax bill when moving.
07 Aug 2025 11:46:06
The Chinese league's alibi, Ernest, was that they wanted to improve the standard of local football by having local lads train with international stars. That showed no appreciable improvement in the national team, so that pretext was invalidated rather quickly. Of course there are the other perks- trying to generate economic growth through the creation of a national sporting spectacle and huge infrastructural projects in the city, stadiums and the surrounding areas etc., which can serve as the basis of a bid for the world cup (the Saudis are hosting the WC in 2034), the olympics and the like. The Saudis are exclusively reliant on oil so are anxiously searching for other forms of revenue, the dystopian farce of the Nyom desert city, built as an underground gated luxury enclave for super rich settlers from all over the world, and its football team is a case in point (HITC Sevens did a great podcast on this) .
07 Aug 2025 12:17:17
Hope our new big money signings aren’t reading your synopsis kaiser!
If Hendo was stupid enough not to sort out his tax then more fool him but I’m sure there’s multiple ways around it. Enough people have gone there and come back within 3 years and not been whacked with a large tax bill. Always ways to beat the system.
07 Aug 2025 12:32:35
So if Saudi league had PSR what would have happened to the countless flops from England, Italy and Germany.
07 Aug 2025 14:37:16
Seriously though, how many top pro footballers need a pay day in their 30s? Most are already multi-millionaires from playing in this country.
07 Aug 2025 14:42:07
The same as every other player London. Not every flop goes to Saudi and not every player they sign is a flop.