Saudi Arabia rocked our world with frenzied transfer spending in the summer of 2023 and prior to that with the acquisition of Cristiano Ronaldo. What has the spending led to?
Let us give you a brief overview of what is going on in the league that aims to compete with the best in the world.
What's up in the league?
The reigning champions Al Ittihad are on their way to conceding the league title to someone else: they're fifth, 11 points behind the league leaders. Last season, they only conceded 13 goals in 30 league games — now they have conceded 12 in less than half the campaign despite the arrivals of N'Golo Kante and Fabinho.
Al Ittihad were also the first top club to replace the head coach. Nuno Espirito Santo may have made them champions last year but he was sacked early this season following a rumoured feud with Karim Benzema. His replacement is a highly rated Marcelo Gallardo from River Plate. Gallardo is one of the most famous tacticians in South America and was linked to the FC Barcelona job a few years ago.
Al Nassr are challenging for the title just like season. Cristiano Ronaldo refuses to retire and, frankly speaking, why should he? He's netted 13 league goals and is the league's top scorer at the time of writing. Not only that - he's also registered seven assists.
Ronaldo aside, there's also Talisca who, despite incessant exit rumours, keeps delivering for Al Nassr: eight goals and two assists this term. Sadio Mane also has two assists but just six goals. With 36 goals in 13 games, Al Nassr are the most scoring team in the league.
Al Hilal are perhaps predictably top of the league. Predictably because their transfer campaign seemed to be the most sensible. They didn't just stack up in one position but improved all round by signing goalkeeper Bono, centre-back Kalidou Koulibaly, the pivot of Sergej Milinkovic Savic and Ruben Neves, and the firepower in Aleksandar Mitrovic, Malcom and Neymar.
Speaking of Neymar, he was meant to be the jewel of the crown but instead, the sturdy Mitrovic is one. Neymar got a career-threatening injury while playing for Brazil and could be forced to retire. What a sad ending that would be.
Anyway back to Al Hilal. They're the only unbeaten team in the league and have beaten all of their key rivals except for Al Nassr — the two will meet on 1 December in a crucial clash for the league leadership.
Al Ahli had the bad luck of being relegated a season ago but nothing like this will happen now that they boasts Roberto Firmino, Allain Saint-Maximin and Riyad Mahrez up front. One of the big four in Saudi Arabia, Al Ahli are firmly third in the league standings, albeit nine points behind league leaders Al Hilal. Up next for them are games against bottom-table opponents so they have a chance to put some pressure on the top two.
Al Taawoun have been a surprise package thus far. Historically, they're quite midtable although every once in a while they can finish in the top five. But the thing is, they got none of the glorified European imports in the summer but yet do so well in the league.
Al Taawoun's main strength is their organised defence: they've only conceded 11 goals, the second best result in the league. Unfortunately, their form as of late has been subpar, with one win, three draws and one defeat in the last five games.
Al Ettifaq had a promising start to the campaign by beating Al Nassr 2-1 at home but their form soon tailed off. Steven Gerrard's men picked up just five points from the last five games. Up next for them is the home game against Al Ittihad.
Al Shabab was the only club outside the established top four that was allowed some spending but the results do not reflect the investment. Habib Diallo netted 20 for Strasbourg in Ligue 1 last year but struggles to get underway for Al Shabab with only one goal. Yannick Carrasco is somewhat better with one goal and three assists but a lot more is expected from the duo. Al Shabab are only 11th in the league standings with 15 points from 13 games.
Any new transfers?
Hard to tell if Saudi clubs will make any big signings in January but a few names have been linked.
Luka Modric may be playing his last months for Real Madrid. He already rejected Saudi advances in the summer but, aged 38, may be tempted to give it a year or two in the Middle East.
Bruno Fernandes has shushed the gossip by committing himself to Man United, just like Kevin de Bruyne has expressed his desire to continue at Man City.
Ruben Neves may be on his way out of Saudi Arabia back to the Premier League again. He has been linked to Newcastle as a potential Sandro Tonali replacement but Arsenal are also in the rumour mills.
