Saudi Arabian All Stars Potential XI: What talent could be on offer following the Saudi transfer rumours?
Saudi Arabia are taking over the transfer world at the moment and it seems like they’ve recruited a new star every other day at this point.
With the likes of Cristiano Ronaldo and Karim Benzema already joining the league, many more are seeing it is a viable option, and we’re going to take a look at the odds for multiple players to join the Saudi Pro League.
Wilfried Zaha 2/5
Wilfried Zaha looks to be the latest player off to Saudi Arabia, according to multiple journalists, and his destination is set to be Al-Nassr where he could potentially partner Ronaldo upfront.
It seemed as though Zaha was always destined to move away from Crystal Palace sooner rather than later and with a lack of options on the table, Al-Nassr may swoop in and secure the player with a £45m contract said to be on offer.
The betting sites have priced Zaha at a very short price of 2/5 to make the move to Saudi Arabia.
Eden Hazard 7/4
Eden Hazard’s big-money move to Real Madrid did not go to plan. It was actually on this day four years ago that he signed for £100m from Chelsea, since then, he only scored seven goals in 76 appearances.
Following the early termination of his contract, Hazard has been the target of many clubs, most notably clubs from the Saudi Pro League. The betting sites have him at 7/4 to join any Saudi Arabian team, with the next likely option any MLS side.
We all know how good Hazard can be if he stays injury free and if he can get one last bit out of his career in what could be a fairly competitive Saudi league, I can definitely see him taking it.
Angel Di Maria has had a wonderful career, winning the World Cup, Copa America, the Champions League, as well as multiple league titles and domestic cups. He’s now 35-years-old and with his playing time at Juventus now coming to an end, his free agent status will be attracting many clubs around the world.
Of course, for any star looking for a move in this window, Saudi Arabian clubs will most likely be trying to sign them and if they don’t have to pay a transfer fee, they can offer Di Maria a ridiculous contract which would be hard to turndown.
Di Maria has apparently said he wants to stay in Europe for next season with Benfica reportedly interested in bringing him back but as we’ve seen from the likes of other players, it’s hard to turn down the huge sum of money that Saudi are offering.
Neymar: 8/1
Neymar’s future is also up in the air after reports are claiming he is attempting to force his way out of PSG. Most notably he has been linked with Manchester United this summer after stories of his agent trying to force a move to the Premier League.
He’s a big price to join any Saudi Arabian team but we’ve seen in the past, money can tempt Neymar which was clear in his move to PSG from Barcelona. However, it seems like he’s already rejected an offer from one Saudi side. He’s a big price at 8/1 to make the move and it doesn’t seem very likely.
Pogba: 16/1
Paul Pogba’s time at Juventus has been pretty rough. Since leaving Manchester United on a free for the second time he has only managed 10 appearances for Juventus, most of them coming from the bench meaning his total minutes for the whole season reached 161’.
There’s nothing concrete linking him to Saudi at the moment but there are reports of him leaving the club this summer as Juventus are reportedly losing patience with the midfielder.
MLS is the current most likely option according to the betting sites but don’t be surprised to see a Saudi side to come in if they find out he is on the market.
It’s a longshot at 16/1 but if his future at Juventus is in doubt, it would be worth getting on early.
Saudi Arabian All Stars XI
Recently we had Ronaldo vs Messi once more in a one-off game that featured PSG vs Saudi All-Stars.
If something similar was to happen again we’d be looking at a star-studded lineup. With all the rumours floating around about these moves to Saudi, we’ve taken a look at what the team could potentially look like…
(An honourable mention to Benzema who has unfortunately not made the cut and has once again been benched by Ronaldo)
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