Clubs in Saudi Arabia spent £701 million pounds on big name players last summer.
According to Michael Emenalo (Saudi Pro League director of football) the focus will now switch to players in their prime. However, it's not all plain sailing as the average attendance to a pro league game is just 8470 with some games attracting less than a 1000.
One can only hope that their money doesn't ruin the game we all love.
And those figures are distorted by a couple of big crowds that Al Hilal and Al Ittihad got for games against the other 'big 4'.
13 of the 18 teams in the league have an average attendance less than 9k. 11 of the teams recorded an attendance of less than 2k. 1 team (Al Riyadh) got a crowd of 133 for a game.
Of the 13 game weeks so far, in 11 of them the total for all games combined that week was less than Dortmund get for each home game.
Jordan Henderson is eager to return to the Premier League in a shock move that would cost him millions of pounds in tax and lost wages.
The England midfield player has struggled to settle since completing a £12million transfer from Liverpool to Saudi Arabian side Al Ettifaq last summer and will seriously consider any offers the club receive this month.
In addition to adjusting to a different lifestyle the 33-year-old has also struggled with the heat and humidity of the playing conditions, while Al Ettifaq's average attendance this season of 7,800 in a 35,000-capacity stadium has proved less than inspiring.
The abuse he has received for moving to Saudi in the first place, which has been criticised as an allegedly betrayal of the LGBTQ+ community, has also taken its toll.
Henderson is understood to have told team-mates he is considering his options before taking a short holiday during the Saudi Pro League's winter break.
Just seen some shocking footage of Andy Delort going down with no one near him and having some sort of fit or seizure. This is in Qatar and hopefully he will be ok.
I'm sure the millions he has earned in his brief Saudi stint will have made it all worth it. Can't see him being the last of the mercenaries to jack it in early over there.
What a div. Ruined his reputation by going for the money then bails within a few months. Got to be one of the worst decisions ever football transfer wise. I am surprised they are cancelling his contract having spent £12M on him. Maybe small fry for the Saudis but sets a slightly dangerous precedent for them.
I'm sure the millions he has earned in his brief Saudi stint will have made it all worth it. Can't see him being the last of the mercenaries to jack it in early over there.
Clubs in Saudi Arabia spent £701 million pounds on big name players last summer.
According to Michael Emenalo (Saudi Pro League director of football) the focus will now switch to players in their prime. However, it's not all plain sailing as the average attendance to a pro league game is just 8470 with some games attracting less than a 1000.
One can only hope that their money doesn't ruin the game we all love.
"One can only hope that money doesn't ruin the game we all love"
The game has always been about money from about the time that players stopped going to games on the bus, and the salary cap went. My guess s that's about 60 years ago. The Saudi development is just another stage. They have the spending power to shrink and sink the Premiership, my guess is that they will. It just a case of whether they want to see it though.
Clubs in Saudi Arabia spent £701 million pounds on big name players last summer.
According to Michael Emenalo (Saudi Pro League director of football) the focus will now switch to players in their prime. However, it's not all plain sailing as the average attendance to a pro league game is just 8470 with some games attracting less than a 1000.
One can only hope that their money doesn't ruin the game we all love.
And those figures are distorted by a couple of big crowds that Al Hilal and Al Ittihad got for games against the other 'big 4'.
13 of the 18 teams in the league have an average attendance less than 9k. 11 of the teams recorded an attendance of less than 2k. 1 team (Al Riyadh) got a crowd of 133 for a game.
Of the 13 game weeks so far, in 11 of them the total for all games combined that week was less than Dortmund get for each home game.
Look they have ample money to pour into 20,000 white elephants. Attendences totally irrelevant. Its all about soft power
Clubs in Saudi Arabia spent £701 million pounds on big name players last summer.
According to Michael Emenalo (Saudi Pro League director of football) the focus will now switch to players in their prime. However, it's not all plain sailing as the average attendance to a pro league game is just 8470 with some games attracting less than a 1000.
One can only hope that their money doesn't ruin the game we all love.
And those figures are distorted by a couple of big crowds that Al Hilal and Al Ittihad got for games against the other 'big 4'.
13 of the 18 teams in the league have an average attendance less than 9k. 11 of the teams recorded an attendance of less than 2k. 1 team (Al Riyadh) got a crowd of 133 for a game.
Of the 13 game weeks so far, in 11 of them the total for all games combined that week was less than Dortmund get for each home game.
Look they have ample money to pour into 20,000 white elephants. Attendences totally irrelevant. Its all about soft power
The soft power only works though if the rest of the world actually watches the Saudi League.
Clubs in Saudi Arabia spent £701 million pounds on big name players last summer.
According to Michael Emenalo (Saudi Pro League director of football) the focus will now switch to players in their prime. However, it's not all plain sailing as the average attendance to a pro league game is just 8470 with some games attracting less than a 1000.
One can only hope that their money doesn't ruin the game we all love.
"One can only hope that money doesn't ruin the game we all love"
The game has always been about money from about the time that players stopped going to games on the bus, and the salary cap went. My guess s that's about 60 years ago. The Saudi development is just another stage. They have the spending power to shrink and sink the Premiership, my guess is that they will. It just a case of whether they want to see it though.
They are not going to sink the Premier League regardless of how many big names go over there. Football in this country is not just about the money, as much as it seems like that. Football clubs are part of the culture here, how many real Man United or Chelsea or City or any other big club fans would stop going if they lost their biggest players to Saudi? Not many I would wager. That's real fans, not fake ones from around the world.
Clubs in Saudi Arabia spent £701 million pounds on big name players last summer.
According to Michael Emenalo (Saudi Pro League director of football) the focus will now switch to players in their prime. However, it's not all plain sailing as the average attendance to a pro league game is just 8470 with some games attracting less than a 1000.
One can only hope that their money doesn't ruin the game we all love.
"One can only hope that money doesn't ruin the game we all love"
The game has always been about money from about the time that players stopped going to games on the bus, and the salary cap went. My guess s that's about 60 years ago. The Saudi development is just another stage. They have the spending power to shrink and sink the Premiership, my guess is that they will. It just a case of whether they want to see it though.
What a div. Ruined his reputation by going for the money then bails within a few months. Got to be one of the worst decisions ever football transfer wise. I am surprised they are cancelling his contract having spent £12M on him. Maybe small fry for the Saudis but sets a slightly dangerous precedent for them.
I'm sure the millions he has earned in his brief Saudi stint will have made it all worth it. Can't see him being the last of the mercenaries to jack it in early over there.
I'm sure the millions he has earned in his brief Saudi stint will have made it all worth it. Can't see him being the last of the mercenaries to jack it in early over there.
Clubs in Saudi Arabia spent £701 million pounds on big name players last summer.
According to Michael Emenalo (Saudi Pro League director of football) the focus will now switch to players in their prime. However, it's not all plain sailing as the average attendance to a pro league game is just 8470 with some games attracting less than a 1000.
One can only hope that their money doesn't ruin the game we all love.
"One can only hope that money doesn't ruin the game we all love"
The game has always been about money from about the time that players stopped going to games on the bus, and the salary cap went. My guess s that's about 60 years ago. The Saudi development is just another stage. They have the spending power to shrink and sink the Premiership, my guess is that they will. It just a case of whether they want to see it though.
They are not going to sink the Premier League regardless of how many big names go over there. Football in this country is not just about the money, as much as it seems like that. Football clubs are part of the culture here, how many real Man United or Chelsea or City or any other big club fans would stop going if they lost their biggest players to Saudi? Not many I would wager. That's real fans, not fake ones from around the world.
UK is a small market. When all the top players are mopped up by Saudi's the rest of the world will be watching them not the Premier League. It will take a decade, but they can do it if they want to. You and I will be watching CAFC, and Chelsea fans will be watching Chelsea.
Clubs in Saudi Arabia spent £701 million pounds on big name players last summer.
According to Michael Emenalo (Saudi Pro League director of football) the focus will now switch to players in their prime. However, it's not all plain sailing as the average attendance to a pro league game is just 8470 with some games attracting less than a 1000.
One can only hope that their money doesn't ruin the game we all love.
"One can only hope that money doesn't ruin the game we all love"
The game has always been about money from about the time that players stopped going to games on the bus, and the salary cap went. My guess s that's about 60 years ago. The Saudi development is just another stage. They have the spending power to shrink and sink the Premiership, my guess is that they will. It just a case of whether they want to see it though.
Clubs in Saudi Arabia spent £701 million pounds on big name players last summer.
According to Michael Emenalo (Saudi Pro League director of football) the focus will now switch to players in their prime. However, it's not all plain sailing as the average attendance to a pro league game is just 8470 with some games attracting less than a 1000.
One can only hope that their money doesn't ruin the game we all love.
"One can only hope that money doesn't ruin the game we all love"
The game has always been about money from about the time that players stopped going to games on the bus, and the salary cap went. My guess s that's about 60 years ago. The Saudi development is just another stage. They have the spending power to shrink and sink the Premiership, my guess is that they will. It just a case of whether they want to see it though.
And Lyle Taylor will play CL football.
Ha! He's not good enough. Good enough for League 1 tho'? lets see at he end of the season,. I think yes and he will score against us
What a div. Ruined his reputation by going for the money then bails within a few months. Got to be one of the worst decisions ever football transfer wise. I am surprised they are cancelling his contract having spent £12M on him. Maybe small fry for the Saudis but sets a slightly dangerous precedent for them.
Rumours are he might not get paid anyway - deferred the payments for tax reasons and as part of cancelling the contract (and costing the club £12m), he's had to agree to leave them.
A lesson in learning to be happy with already being worth millions.
Clubs in Saudi Arabia spent £701 million pounds on big name players last summer.
According to Michael Emenalo (Saudi Pro League director of football) the focus will now switch to players in their prime. However, it's not all plain sailing as the average attendance to a pro league game is just 8470 with some games attracting less than a 1000.
One can only hope that their money doesn't ruin the game we all love.
"One can only hope that money doesn't ruin the game we all love"
The game has always been about money from about the time that players stopped going to games on the bus, and the salary cap went. My guess s that's about 60 years ago. The Saudi development is just another stage. They have the spending power to shrink and sink the Premiership, my guess is that they will. It just a case of whether they want to see it though.
They are not going to sink the Premier League regardless of how many big names go over there. Football in this country is not just about the money, as much as it seems like that. Football clubs are part of the culture here, how many real Man United or Chelsea or City or any other big club fans would stop going if they lost their biggest players to Saudi? Not many I would wager. That's real fans, not fake ones from around the world.
UK is a small market. When all the top players are mopped up by Saudi's the rest of the world will be watching them not the Premier League. It will take a decade, but they can do it if they want to. You and I will be watching CAFC, and Chelsea fans will be watching Chelsea.
Will never happen. Yes they will no doubt continue to sign big names in the twilight of their career and maybe the odd couple of younger players but it will never fully take off.
There is too much prestige tied to the big European clubs and the champions league. No serious player is going there in his prime. The atmosphere at most games is awful, no one really wants to live there, and after just a short time we're already seeing some players want to leave. Henderson is the first, but there will be more.
There's also the issue for now (although i'm sure it will change) in that Saudi clubs are only allowed 8 overseas players. The big 4 that are owned by PIF have already filled their quotas with players on multiple year contracts. So what happens next summer when they want to sign more big names? They're all on huge money, so will they just pay off existing players to go?
Clubs in Saudi Arabia spent £701 million pounds on big name players last summer.
According to Michael Emenalo (Saudi Pro League director of football) the focus will now switch to players in their prime. However, it's not all plain sailing as the average attendance to a pro league game is just 8470 with some games attracting less than a 1000.
One can only hope that their money doesn't ruin the game we all love.
"One can only hope that money doesn't ruin the game we all love"
The game has always been about money from about the time that players stopped going to games on the bus, and the salary cap went. My guess s that's about 60 years ago. The Saudi development is just another stage. They have the spending power to shrink and sink the Premiership, my guess is that they will. It just a case of whether they want to see it though.
They are not going to sink the Premier League regardless of how many big names go over there. Football in this country is not just about the money, as much as it seems like that. Football clubs are part of the culture here, how many real Man United or Chelsea or City or any other big club fans would stop going if they lost their biggest players to Saudi? Not many I would wager. That's real fans, not fake ones from around the world.
UK is a small market. When all the top players are mopped up by Saudi's the rest of the world will be watching them not the Premier League. It will take a decade, but they can do it if they want to. You and I will be watching CAFC, and Chelsea fans will be watching Chelsea.
Clubs in Saudi Arabia spent £701 million pounds on big name players last summer.
According to Michael Emenalo (Saudi Pro League director of football) the focus will now switch to players in their prime. However, it's not all plain sailing as the average attendance to a pro league game is just 8470 with some games attracting less than a 1000.
One can only hope that their money doesn't ruin the game we all love.
"One can only hope that money doesn't ruin the game we all love"
The game has always been about money from about the time that players stopped going to games on the bus, and the salary cap went. My guess s that's about 60 years ago. The Saudi development is just another stage. They have the spending power to shrink and sink the Premiership, my guess is that they will. It just a case of whether they want to see it though.
They are not going to sink the Premier League regardless of how many big names go over there. Football in this country is not just about the money, as much as it seems like that. Football clubs are part of the culture here, how many real Man United or Chelsea or City or any other big club fans would stop going if they lost their biggest players to Saudi? Not many I would wager. That's real fans, not fake ones from around the world.
UK is a small market. When all the top players are mopped up by Saudi's the rest of the world will be watching them not the Premier League. It will take a decade, but they can do it if they want to. You and I will be watching CAFC, and Chelsea fans will be watching Chelsea.
Will never happen. Yes they will no doubt continue to sign big names in the twilight of their career and maybe the odd couple of younger players but it will never fully take off.
There is too much prestige tied to the big European clubs and the champions league. No serious player is going there in his prime. The atmosphere at most games is awful, no one really wants to live there, and after just a short time we're already seeing some players want to leave. Henderson is the first, but there will be more.
There's also the issue for now (although i'm sure it will change) in that Saudi clubs are only allowed 8 overseas players. The big 4 that are owned by PIF have already filled their quotas with players on multiple year contracts. So what happens next summer when they want to sign more big names? They're all on huge money, so will they just pay off existing players to go?
Yes, it's the lack of history, club rivalries and atmosphere. They'll never be able to replicate the derbies etc that makes the EPL so popular around the world.
Pleased to see Jordan Henderson clean up his reputation by going to Ajax.
Saw a good piece in the Guardian today about Henderson, which said he appears to be living his career in reverse: the classic model would be to emerge as a young hopeful at Ajax, move to Liverpool and enjoy European success and then, when the legs start to go, join Sunderland.
Clubs in Saudi Arabia spent £701 million pounds on big name players last summer.
According to Michael Emenalo (Saudi Pro League director of football) the focus will now switch to players in their prime. However, it's not all plain sailing as the average attendance to a pro league game is just 8470 with some games attracting less than a 1000.
One can only hope that their money doesn't ruin the game we all love.
"One can only hope that money doesn't ruin the game we all love"
The game has always been about money from about the time that players stopped going to games on the bus, and the salary cap went. My guess s that's about 60 years ago. The Saudi development is just another stage. They have the spending power to shrink and sink the Premiership, my guess is that they will. It just a case of whether they want to see it though.
They are not going to sink the Premier League regardless of how many big names go over there. Football in this country is not just about the money, as much as it seems like that. Football clubs are part of the culture here, how many real Man United or Chelsea or City or any other big club fans would stop going if they lost their biggest players to Saudi? Not many I would wager. That's real fans, not fake ones from around the world.
UK is a small market. When all the top players are mopped up by Saudi's the rest of the world will be watching them not the Premier League. It will take a decade, but they can do it if they want to. You and I will be watching CAFC, and Chelsea fans will be watching Chelsea.
The richest, most popular and most viewed league in the world is hardly a small market. 4 Saudi clubs owned by PIF is not going to threaten that.
The PL basically laugh at the Saudi league and clubs see it as a chance to offload unwanted players.
Comments
13 of the 18 teams in the league have an average attendance less than 9k.
11 of the teams recorded an attendance of less than 2k.
1 team (Al Riyadh) got a crowd of 133 for a game.
Of the 13 game weeks so far, in 11 of them the total for all games combined that week was less than Dortmund get for each home game.
Jordan Henderson is eager to return to the Premier League in a shock move that would cost him millions of pounds in tax and lost wages.
The England midfield player has struggled to settle since completing a £12million transfer from Liverpool to Saudi Arabian side Al Ettifaq last summer and will seriously consider any offers the club receive this month.
In addition to adjusting to a different lifestyle the 33-year-old has also struggled with the heat and humidity of the playing conditions, while Al Ettifaq's average attendance this season of 7,800 in a 35,000-capacity stadium has proved less than inspiring.
The abuse he has received for moving to Saudi in the first place, which has been criticised as an allegedly betrayal of the LGBTQ+ community, has also taken its toll.
Henderson is understood to have told team-mates he is considering his options before taking a short holiday during the Saudi Pro League's winter break.
Diddums.
The game has always been about money from about the time that players stopped going to games on the bus, and the salary cap went. My guess s that's about 60 years ago. The Saudi development is just another stage. They have the spending power to shrink and sink the Premiership, my guess is that they will. It just a case of whether they want to see it though.
They make Lyle an angel in comparison.
A lesson in learning to be happy with already being worth millions.
There is too much prestige tied to the big European clubs and the champions league. No serious player is going there in his prime. The atmosphere at most games is awful, no one really wants to live there, and after just a short time we're already seeing some players want to leave. Henderson is the first, but there will be more.
There's also the issue for now (although i'm sure it will change) in that Saudi clubs are only allowed 8 overseas players. The big 4 that are owned by PIF have already filled their quotas with players on multiple year contracts. So what happens next summer when they want to sign more big names? They're all on huge money, so will they just pay off existing players to go?
The PL basically laugh at the Saudi league and clubs see it as a chance to offload unwanted players.