Football fans unhappy with Saudi Pro League buying Chelsea's unwanted stars

Football fans have become annoyed at Chelsea selling their unwanted stars to the Saudi Pro League, as the Middle East football revolution continues.

Cristiano Ronaldo's move to Saudi Arabia earlier in the year ended his time in Europe and he was joined by Karim Benzema at the beginning of the summer.

Whilst signing Ronaldo was the start of their intent to become a big player on the world stage of football, it really kicked off when the Saudi Public Investment Fund bought the biggest four clubs in the country.

Whilst many of the players they've been linked with are past their prime and available for free, it was reported on Sunday that they'd bid £47 million for Wolves star Ruben Neves.

Whilst fans have been sceptical of the league, many are ramping up their suspicions with the interest being shown in Chelsea players.

It's long been reported that the Blues have to sell some of their stars this summer to help keep them within the spending limits allowed by FFP.

Now a number of them are being chased by the Saudi league, with Hakim Ziyech, N'Golo Kante, Edouard Mendy, Kalidou Koulibaly and Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang all linked.

What has confused matters is the report from last year in the Daily Mail that the PIF are actually 'major investors' in the Blues' major shareholders Clearlake Capital.

Koulibaly is expected to move to Saudi Arabia. Image: Alamy

Fans are now realising the link and are unhappy that the PIF appear to be helping out a team they have an investment in to get out of a jam.

"Chelsea paid £32m for this 31-y.o. and put him on £295k per week. Only makes sense he’s retained almost all his value now that the club want to move on," one said of the Koulibaly deal.

"So pretty much it’s a get out of jail free card for Chelsea, ultimately they can just spend as much money as they want on the best up and coming stars and if they fail it’s doesn’t really matter, just ship them off to Saudi Arabia. My love for football is dying by the day," added a second.

A third stated: "Lawless league if this ends up happening and clearing Chelsea’s FFP issues up for the long term. Don’t blame them for using any loopholes available to them, but this is Saudi Arabia practically owning and bankrolling two PL teams. Not really sport anymore."

On the Blues recent spending another commented: "Really fortunate for Chelsea who, after spending £600m to secure their worst ever Premier League finish, find themselves significant investment for unwanted players to ease their financial concerns."

"Football is broken. Reading up on the Chelsea/Clearlake/PIF links and you can understand why Todd Boehly & Co we’re happy to spend wild amounts of money without the fear of any real consequences," replied a fifth.