Featured Image Credit: Getty & Saudi Pro League
Topics: Saudi Pro League, Saudi Arabia, Harry Kane, Kylian Mbappe
Josh Lawless
Topics: Saudi Pro League, Saudi Arabia, Harry Kane, Kylian Mbappe
The Saudi Pro League have no plans to stop their recruitment of world-class players, with sporting director Michael Emenalo name-dropping two huge targets.
The new season kicked off at the weekend and a plethora of marquee signings like Karim Benzema, N'Golo Kante, Ruben Neves, Riyad Mahrez, Allan Saint-Maximin, Roberto Firmino, Fabinho, Sadio Mane, Jordan Henderson, Ruben Neves and Kalidou Koulibaly will all join Cristiano Ronaldo in the division this term.
But with wage and transfers budgets seemingly no problem - particularly for clubs backed by the PIF - the SPL have ambitions to continue to attract the very best players to the league.
Emenalo, who previously worked for Chelsea and Monaco, is tasked with bringing in the cream of the crop in the inaugural role.
And he has identified Kylian Mbappe and Harry Kane as two key recruits as he bids to create "a league for exceptional players only".
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Mbappe was the subject of a world-record £259 million bid from Al Hilal, who were prepared to pay him an eye-watering £1.65 million per day.
However, the Frenchman turned down the offer and looks set to stay put at PSG in a surprising twist. Kane, meanwhile, has finally left Spurs and signed a four-year deal with Bundesliga champions Bayern Munich.
"I would love to have Kylian Mbappe here," he told the National News.
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"I would love to have Harry Kane here. The league would like to have all the top players.
“And I think it will be at the heart of this whole particular strategy: it is that, in a couple of years, in a few short years, this will become a league for exceptional players only.
“It will become a league only for those who at the top of their game because we have only 18 clubs and the space for just eight international players [at each club].
“And, yes, we have resources and we're going to use those resources to make sure, once we build up infrastructure, that the only players here are the ones at the top of their game.”
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Mo Salah, Kevin De Bruyne, Luka Modric and Neymar have all been touted as potential future additions - but fresh reports claim the latter may move this summer.
The Brazilian has reportedly reached an agreement with Al Hilal, who previously went after Mbappe and Lionel Messi.
According to Ben Jacobs of CBS Sports, there is a budget of £17 billion to spend on transfers between now and 2030 and so more high-profile names are expected to join.