Will Liverpool’s Mohamed Salah be one of the high-profile victims of Saudi Arabia’s abrupt change of spending policy, which is set to see the Middle East country slash outlay on sports?
Salah has already announced that he will leave Liverpool at the end of the season, but his next club has not yet been decided.
The prevailing logic was that the 33-year-old would likely go to the Saudi Pro League on a free transfer to receive one huge final payday, but this U-turn in policy has the potential to change his plans.
What’s happening in Saudi Arabia?
Saudi is reportedly changing its policy towards sports, with funding in LIV Golf widely expected to be cut imminently. There is speculation that its Public Investment Fund (PIF) is set to withdrawn its backing for LIV, with BBC Sport reporting that the tour, which has been propped up by more than $5 billion, will not continue beyond the end of the year.
Funding had been promised to players until 2032, but has reportedly lost “several billion dollars”.
Is the Saudi Pro League next?
And there are fears that the Saudi Pro League could be the next project to suffer.
“The new plan suggests PIF is no longer willing to keep pumping resources into projects that offer little prospect of profitability,” Dr Kristian Ulrichsen, a Middle East analyst at the Baker Institute, told the BBC.
“The perception that resources – and ambitions – were limitless has given way to a more realistic assessment of what is feasible in a more constrained financial environment.
“That predated the war with Iran and has been underway for more than a year now.”
Already, PIF has sold 70% of its stake in Al-Hilal, who once boasted Neymar on their books.
But with the World Cup on the horizon in Saudi Arabia in four years, this is likely to be a focus at least in the medium term.
Dr Ulrichsen explains: “This is not to say that PIF or Saudi Arabia is pulling out of sports investment but that the authorities are having to prioritise the allocation of resources more carefully.
“It is likely that PIF and the Saudi state will prioritise the World Cup going forward, at the expense of other sports projects, including LIV Golf.”
What is means for Salah
Salah’s move to Saudi Arabia is by no means dead, but instead it is unlikely to be as lucrative as it once might have been.
He remains an iconic figure in the Arab world and will be a massive drawn in the Pro League, potentially eclipsing Cristiano Ronaldo at Al-Nassr in the local market.
Sky Sports News’ chief reporter Kaveh Solhekol explains: “There have already been some changes to the way they invest in football.
“When they first put money into the Saudi Pro League, there was a massive splurge on players. Cristiano Ronaldo is there earning astronomical sums of money.
“There has been a pull back and there will continue to be a pull back. What does that mean for somebody like Mohamed Salah?
“There’s still a big appetite from the Saudi Pro League to sign Salah this summer – but perhaps he wouldn’t be earning as much as if he had moved to Saudi a few years ago.
“There’s a war going on in the Middle East and economies all around the world have been affected, especially those in the Gulf.
“Saudi Arabia is saying: ‘We’re going to continue investing in sport but we’re going to be very sensible.’”
Salah is likely to get his Saudi payday, but it seems to be the end of deals like the €90m transfer that saw Neymar move to Al-Hilal from PSG in 2023.
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