With this post we are aiming to summarize the most important signings the RSL clubs made during the last days of the transfer window. Some (or all) of these last-minute transfers may have a decisive influence on the final position of the teams at the end of the season. What do you think, which signing was the best deal out of the below?
๐๐ฏ๐๐ง ๐๐จ๐ง๐๐ฒ (๐๐ซ๐๐ง๐ญ๐๐จ๐ซ๐ –> ๐๐ฅ ๐๐ก๐ฅ๐ข)
The 28-year old English striker was signed by Al Ahli in the final days of the transfer window. The former goal machine of Brentford became the best-paid English football player. There are high expectations at Al Ahli towards the striker, so everything needed is available for Toney in Jeddah to rebuild his nimbus shattered by the 8-month ban in England.
๐๐จรฃ๐จ ๐๐๐ง๐๐๐ฅ๐จ (๐๐๐ง๐๐ก๐๐ฌ๐ญ๐๐ซ ๐๐ข๐ญ๐ฒ –> ๐๐ฅ ๐๐ข๐ฅ๐๐ฅ)
The departure of Saud Abdulhamid left a big hole on the right flank of the defense of Al Hilal, so they needed a star signing who can also be a long-term solution for the reigning champions. With Cancelo they might have just found what they needed, as Cancelo already proved himself in the world of football at the highest level and he is still in his prime and has a lot to offer. No wonder if the fanbase of the Riyadh based giants is optimistic.
๐๐จ๐ก๐๐ฆ๐๐ ๐๐ข๐ฆ๐๐ค๐๐ง (๐๐ ๐๐๐ข๐ฉ๐ณ๐ข๐ –> ๐๐ฅ ๐๐๐ฌ๐ฌ๐ซ)
Al Nassr was heavily lagging behind Al Hilal and Al Ittihad (and even Al Ahli) in terms of the quality of summer signings so far. And although this statement is still true, the signing of Simakan certainly narrows the gap behind their rivals. Although they had to let go Telles that is certainly bad news for the Knights of Najd, the defensive line of Al Nassr still got improved compared to the last season, thanks to the arrival of the French talent. Together with Laporte they might just be able to stabilize the most problematic line of the team.
๐๐ก๐ซ๐ข๐ฌ ๐๐ฆ๐๐ฅ๐ฅ๐ข๐ง๐ (๐๐ ๐๐จ๐ฆ๐ –> ๐๐ฅ ๐ ๐๐ฒ๐ก๐)
On the last day of the transfer period Al Fayha acquired the veteran central back who was playing for Manchester United for more than a decade. His experience will certainly contribute to many points to be gathered by the mid-table team and we believe that he can complete his career in Al Majma’ah with a wonderful last chapter.
๐๐ญ๐๐ฏ๐๐ง ๐๐๐ซ๐ ๐ฐ๐ข๐ฃ๐ง (๐๐ฃ๐๐ฑ –> ๐๐ฅ ๐๐ญ๐ญ๐ข๐ก๐๐)
With the signing of the 26-year old Dutch winger the offensive line of Al Ittihad is complete. The experienced but still very young and fast-paced winger could mean the final piece of puzzle on the table of Laurent Blanc, as with Bergwijn, Benzema, Diaby and Aouar the attacking capabilities are certainly maxed out now. If Blanc can make sure quickly that no chemistry is lost between these big names, then Al Ittihad can certainly have high hopes for this season.
๐๐ฎ๐ซ๐ญ ๐๐จ๐ฎ๐ฆ๐ (๐๐๐ฌ๐ญ ๐๐๐ฆ –> ๐๐ฅ ๐๐ซ๐จ๐๐๐ก)
The English Premier League is becoming a popular shopping destination for Saudi Clubs. Although this transfer in question is only temporary, given the nature of loan structures. The very physical defender raised by Saint-รtienne moves his seat from England to the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia for one year, and brings with him to Sakakah his experience gained in English Football Clubs (Chelsea, Stoke City, Everton, West Ham). During this year he can become a key figure of Al Orobahโs campaign to avoid relegation.
๐๐๐ฆ๐๐ซ๐จ๐ง ๐๐ฎ๐๐ซ๐ญ๐๐ฌ (๐๐ง๐ข๐จ๐ง ๐๐ –> ๐๐ฅ ๐๐๐๐ฌ๐ข๐๐ก)
Al Qadsiah did not stop with the reinforcements of its squad during the last week of the transfer window either. The Spanish player (who is a yet-to-be Swiss national as well) is another high profile signing of the Khobar based team, who provided an extreme number of 16 assists last year in the Belgian Jupiler Pro League as a key player of Union SG. Al Qadsiah started this season very strongly, and this signing did certainly not weakened the team.
๐๐๐ง๐ข๐๐ฅ ๐๐จ๐๐๐ง๐๐ (๐๐จ๐ฅ๐ฏ๐๐ซ๐ก๐๐ฆ๐ฉ๐ญ๐จ๐ง –> ๐๐ฅ ๐๐ก๐๐๐๐)
Another player with Premier League experience who sets foot in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia is Daniel Podence. Al Shabab seemingly made a very good deal with signing the 28-year old winger from the Wolves for only 5 million euros. The Portuguese attacker was raised by Sporting CP and left its home to find new challenges in Greece (Olympiacos) from where he quickly moved forward to the Premier League. Together with Hamdallah they can certainly add some variety to the (so far very) โCarrasco-heavyโ offensive line of the Riyadh based club.
๐๐จรฃ๐จ ๐๐จ๐ฌ๐ญ๐ (๐๐ ๐๐จ๐ฆ๐ –> ๐๐ฅ ๐๐ญ๐ญ๐ข๐๐๐ช)
The young winger is another acquisition of the Saudi Football that could take place because of the additional slots granted to the RSL clubs to invest in young foreign players. AS Roma was in active business with the Saudi clubs this summer, given the signing of Saud Abdulhamid from Al Hilal and the transfer of Aouar, Smalling and Joรฃo Costa to different Saudi clubs.
๐๐ฎ๐ฌ๐๐ ๐ ๐๐ก๐ ๐๐ฅ ๐๐ฎ๐ฐ๐๐ฒ๐ซ (๐๐ฅ ๐๐ข๐ฅ๐๐ฅ –> ๐๐ฅ ๐๐ก๐๐๐๐)
The young midfielder is one of the brightest talents of Saudi football, which is showcased by his recent performances and goals both in the Saudi Pro League and the national team. Al Hilal may soon regret sending him on another loan spell to Riyadhi rivals Al Shabab!
๐๐ฅ๐๐ฑ๐ฌ๐๐ง๐๐๐ซ (๐ ๐ฅ๐ฎ๐ฆ๐ข๐ง๐๐ง๐ฌ๐ –> ๐๐ฅ ๐๐ก๐ฅ๐ข)
The young gem of the Brazilian football paradise left the Campeonato Brasileiro and his choice to move to the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia instead of the European football leagues serves as another testament of the development of the Roshn Saudi League. Alexsander can contribute to Al Ahli non-only in a defensive midfielder position but in the case of need his excellent left foot can be utilized in a left-winger position as well.
๐๐ซ๐ข๐ฌ๐ญ๐ข๐๐ง ๐๐๐ฅ๐ฅ๐จ (๐๐ฅ ๐ ๐๐ญ๐๐ก –> ๐๐ฅ ๐๐ซ๐จ๐๐๐ก)
The ever young Spanish winger was subject to a domestic transfer between Al Fateh and Al Orobah. Given his individual statistics in the last season of the Roshn Saudi League (11 goals / 3 assists), this is certainly a big loss to Al Fateh, and on the other hand means a huge hope to the newcomers in terms of their plans to avoid the relegation zone.
๐๐๐ซ๐๐จ๐ฌ ๐๐๐จ๐ง๐๐ซ๐๐จ (๐๐๐ง๐๐ข๐๐ –> ๐๐ฅ ๐๐ข๐ฅ๐๐ฅ)
Al Hilal utilized an additional slot maintained for young foreign players and signed Marcos Leonardo to its squad. The young Brazilian striker certainly chose a team where he can further develop his skills, the only question is how Al Hilal will integrate him to the squad and how many playing minutes will be granted to him next to Mitrovic. One thing is sure, the amount they paid for the young talent shows that Al Hilal has definite plans with the player for the future.
๐๐๐ซ๐ง๐๐ซ๐ ๐๐๐ง๐ฌ๐๐ก (๐๐ฅ ๐๐๐ข –> ๐๐ฅ ๐๐ข๐ฒ๐๐๐ก)
Although there was no huge difference between the seller and vendor side of this deal last year in terms of total points gathered, one of them got relegated to the Yelo League and one of them earned the right to stay in the RSL for this year. And thus became this 4 points of difference a margin wider than imagination. As thanks to this 4 points, Al Riyadh could buy the best player and top scorer of Al Tai, significantly increasing its chance to avoid relegation this year as well, while Al Taiโs hopes to come back to the RSL have certainly shrunk as a result of this transfer. The Ghanaian player already scored and made an assist during the six goal thriller against Al-Wehda, establishing his worth already.
๐๐๐ฌ๐ฅ๐๐ฒ (๐๐จ๐ซ๐ข๐ง๐ญ๐ก๐ข๐๐ง๐ฌ –> ๐๐ ๐๐๐ฌ๐ฌ๐ซ)
Al Nassr decided to fill out an empty slot granted to sign a young foreign player with Wesley. The Brazilian talent is still very young and had not yet proved himself, but he will have all the chance to do so in Riyadh in one of the biggest teams of the Roshn Saudi League. If he uses his talents well and work hard, then Al Nassr might just have found a hidden gem.
๐๐๐๐ฎ๐ฅ๐ฅ๐๐ก ๐๐๐๐ข๐ (๐๐ฅ ๐๐ข๐ฅ๐๐ฅ –> ๐๐ฅ ๐๐ญ๐ญ๐ข๐๐๐ช)
The young striker needs game time to develop and to keep his starting spot in the Saudi national team. Al Ettifaq seized the opportunity to take him on loan from Al Hilal in order to bolster their attacking options. The move to Dammam could be a very reasonable and successful one for all parties involved.
ร๐ง๐ ๐๐ฅ๐จ (๐๐ก๐๐ฅ๐ฌ๐๐ –> ๐๐ฅ ๐๐๐ฌ๐ฌ๐ซ)
The three sentences made above in respect of Wesley could be said about รngelo as well, from word to word, so why would we repeat ourselves. It seems that Al Nassr relied on the infinite pool of young talents produced by Brazil when deciding about the empty slots reserved for young foreign players. If only one of these talents would hit hard, then Al Nassr would profit heavily from this decision. One thing is sure, we cannot wait to see how this plays out.
๐๐ฅ๐๐ฑ๐๐ง๐๐ซ๐ฎ ๐๐ซ๐ลฃ๐ฎ (๐๐ ๐ ๐๐ซ๐๐ข๐จ๐ฏ๐ –> ๐๐ฅ ๐๐๐ก๐๐)
The 32-years old Romanian midfielder, who spent his career in his home country (amongst others in Iasi, FCSB and Craiova) with a 4.5 years long Slovenian detour (Olimpija, Maribor), moves his residence to the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia to join the Knights of Mecca. Al Wehda hopes to stabilize its midfield with Creลฃu whose defensive skills are a very useful addon to his in-depth playmaking style.
๐๐จ๐ญ๐๐ ๐๐ฅ-๐๐๐ซ๐๐ข (๐๐ฅ ๐๐ก๐๐๐๐ –> ๐๐ฅ ๐๐ข๐ฅ๐๐ฅ)
This domestic transfer aims to strengthen the squad on the flanks of the defensive line of Al Hilal. The Saudi left-back was probably signed as a substitution behind Renan Lodi, but if he continues to develop his game just like in the last season then he might have a chance to be seen as a competition of Lodi on the left-back position.
๐๐๐ฌ๐ก๐๐ซ๐ข ๐๐ฅ-๐๐๐ฆ๐๐ซ (๐๐ฅ ๐๐๐ฌ๐ฌ๐ซ –> ๐๐๐ฆ๐๐)
As the 21-years old Saudi forward would get little time on the pitch behind the likes of CR7, Manรฉ, Talisca and Ghareeb, Al Nassr decided that for the sake of the continuous development of their young talent they loan him out to Damac, a team well-known about their organized playing style and the professional environment maintained at the club. In this season Al-Nemer will need to grab every minutes he can to show why he is considered a rising star of Saudi football.
๐รฉ๐ญ๐๐ซ ๐๐ณ๐๐ฉ๐ฉ๐๐ง๐จ๐ฌ (๐๐๐ค๐ฌ๐ข ๐ ๐ –> ๐๐ฅ ๐ ๐๐ญ๐๐ก)
The Hungarian goalkeeper was very much needed at Al Fateh, proven by the fact that he was thrown into the deep water by his new team right away; Szappanos was the starting goalkeeper of Al Fateh against Al Qadsiah, which match took place at the date when his transfer got finalized. Szappanos highly contributed already to the first victory of Al Fateh against none other than Al Ahli.
๐๐๐ซ๐ฅ๐จ ๐๐ฎ๐ก๐๐ซ (๐๐ ๐ ๐๐ฅ๐ฎ๐ฃ –> ๐๐ฅ ๐๐ซ๐จ๐๐๐ก)
AL Orobah strengthened its midfield with the tall Croatian playmaker, who can not only organize the newcomerโs play from the midfield but is also considered a very direct danger in front of the goal of the opposition, supported by the fact that he scored 7 times last season in the Romanian SuperLiga.
