Cristiano Ronaldo, Karim Benzema and other big transfers

Saudi Pro League made its biggest splash in the footballing world by bringing in an out of favour Cristiano Ronaldo from Manchester United in January 2023.

That transfer created shockwaves with not one of the conventional big leagues signing a quality player from a European giant.

Even though his move to Al Nassr came on a free in January 2023, the league’s financial might could not be ignored with a 200 million euro bumper contract being offered.

This summer window, that has been taken to the next level. All of Karim Benzema, N’Golo Kante and Edouard Mendy have joined teams in Saudi Arabia with the sovereign wealth fund – Public Investment Fund PIF – being put to use for football deals.