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Ever since Christiano Ronaldo to the surprise of several, swapped Manchester United for Al-Nassr, speculation was rife of what would happen next.

Many football observers were questioning, who would be the next high-profile player to join a club from the Saudi Pro League?

Of course, it would turn out to be Karim Benzema, since then there’s been an influx of players. Kante, Mendy, Brozovic, Firminho and several others.
Respected journalist Fabrizio Romano has said Jordan Henderson is reportedly interested as in joining the Pro League.

Fellow Englishmen Jesse Lingard and Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain have also reportedly been tempted to move to the Middle East.

Of the players that have gone, the majority of the players are in their 30s and it can be argued, they’re looking for one last big payday before they hang their boots up and retire.

One player who broke the mould and went against the grain was Wolves, captain Ruben Neves. Portuguese international Neves was linked to Barcelona, but The Catalans stalled in doing a deal.

Al-Hilal as a result of that swopped and completed the deal. The Saudi side have completed another major signing, their third in this window with the signing of Lazio midfielder Sergej Milinkovic-Savic.

Milinkovic-Savic had regularly been linked with a move to the Premier League, but for one reason or another would end up staying at SS Lazio, until now.

A rumoured fee of £34 million has been agreed, which is a massive drop off from the reported £80 million that Man United and Liverpool have been quoted what feels like not too long ago.

When Ronaldo signed for Al-Nassr and then others started to join the Portugal captain, Chinese Super League mark two thoughts were creeping into my thoughts.

With the signings of Sergej Milinkovic-Savic and Ruben Neves, the argument is only getting stronger to suggest that players will join the Saudi Pro League for a payday.

Several football players arguably are doing it earlier in their careers, the examples of Milinkovic-Savic and Neves. We as fans can only speculate the reason for their moves.

Just based on what’s apparent though however this reminds me of Alex Teixeira and Oscar. Maybe even Carlos Tevez can be put in this bracket?

All these players in this example, played their best years of football in China, it can be argued.

We all know that the Chinese League slowed down in its growth due to taxes imposed by the government. At this stage, it appears highly unlikely that this will happen.

To make the comparison complete between China and Saudi Arabia complete is when more top-class managers manage in the League.

With news that Saudi Arabian giants Al-Nassr have been banned from registering players for three transfer windows, maybe this is the tipping point for the league?

Only time will tell, but what is certain is that in the here and the now, the Saudi Pro League is here to stay.

In the short term, I can see it becoming a very powerful league. What I also think is that many players will want to move back to Europe for competitiveness.

Players like Yannick Carrasco come to mind when I think of such a scenario. So that’s my thoughts on the Saudi Pro League maybe being the next big Super League, what’s yours?

Do drop your thoughts in the comments.

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