The STAGGERING €300m+ loss Saudi clubs have made on European signings

Analysis

Saudi Arabia’s experiment to build up its Saudi Pro League has seen its Public Investment Fund-backed clubs lose huge sums of money.

If Moussa Diaby’s rumoured loan with €35m buy option to Inter gets completed, the league will have suffered a €262m loss from the sales and releases of just nine players.

The French winger was signed by Al Ittihad from Aston Villa for a €60m fee 18 months ago.

Current ETV

Moussa Diaby

F (CR), M (R)

Al-Ittihad

Moussa Diaby

F (CR), M (R)

Al-Ittihad

€27.6M

ETV Range

€24.8M - €30.3M

View full profile

If you add players who have been loaned outside the country but not yet sold — headlined by Jhon Duran and Joao Cancelo — that number soars above €300m.

The largest financial loss was Neymar, who signed for Al Hilal from PSG for €90 million and returned to his boyhood club, Santos, on a free transfer after just seven appearances in all competitions over 18 months.

It did not help that he suffered a ruptured ACL just five matches into his Al Hilal spell.

STATS

Neymar

AM, M, F (C)

Santos

Neymar

AM, M, F (C)

Santos

All Tournaments

2023/24

• 5

  Games

• 1

  Goals

• 2

  Assists

View all stats

Although Aleksandar Mitrovic stayed in the Middle East when he left Saudi’s Al-Hilal for Qatar’s Al-Rayyan, his former Saudi club still suffered a major loss. He was signed for €52.6m and left on a free transfer.

Other well-known players who were sold for losses are Renan Lodi (€23m loss), Jota (€21m loss), Aymeric Laporte (€17.5m loss), and Gabri Veiga (€15m loss).

Seko Fofana and Allan Saint-Maximin were also sold for losses, each just under the €10m mark.

Financial losses persist this season

So far in 2025/26 alone, the league has a combined net spend of around €507m.

The plan to boost Saudi’s footballing reputation was never going to be a moneymaking endeavor, but it is worth wondering how long this spending can be sustained without much return on the investment.

Established players including Cristiano Ronaldo, Karim Benzema, Sergej Milinkovic-Savic, and Ruben Neves are still plying their trade in the country.

But, with so many of the league’s major signings returning to Europe — after less than two seasons in Saudi in many cases — other players may be dissuaded from making a move to the Saudi Pro League in the future.

The FootballTransfers app

Check out FootballTransfers' new app for all of football's big storylines, transfer rumours and exclusive news in one convenient place directly on your mobile device.

The FootballTransfers app is available on Google Play and in the Apple App Store. Download here:

•Google Play

•App Store