Why do big-star football players end up in the Gulf’s rich leagues?

What do players like Cristiano Ronaldo, Neymar Jr, Karim Benzema, Sergej Milinkovic-Savic, Sadio Mane and Ruben Neves – to name a few – have in common? They are all big-star footballers who have recently moved to the Middle East to unfold their talents and on-field capabilities in the aspiring Saudi Pro League. 

Ronaldo’s move to Al Nassr made the headlines of all sports news media and surprised everyone who expected that the Portuguese phenomenon would somehow continue to play for the marquee European leagues. Ronaldo’s ‘next club” became a hot betting market in global betting platforms, including every top best online casino in France,  attracting the guesses and predictions of sports fans and bettors like, who were more likely to pick one of the renowned clubs of the region.

But Ronaldo stunned everyone when he announced that he would leave the Premier League to join the Saudi Pro League, after signing with Al Nassr. To the surprise of his hard-core fans, followers, and bettors, Ronaldo told everybody that he would move to Saudi Arabia for at least two and a half years, helping football gain popularity and mainstream character in the region. 

Since Ronaldo’s decision to move to the Middle East grounds, many more have followed. Benzema and Neymar Jr -being the next two high-profile signings – actually applauded their fellow football player’s choice and rushed in to express their positive views on doing the same thing. Six months after Ronaldo, Karim Benzema exited Real Madrid and went to Al-Ittihad while three months after Benzema, Neymar also left PSG for  Al-Hilal. 

The list of European football players who are moving to Gulf countries is expanding, as the Middle-East leagues exhibit a mounting interest in getting football to become the most popular sport in the region. And with the hope of getting more popular, leagues such as the Saudi Pro League are reaching out top, marque leagues like the EPL, La Liga, Ligue 1, Bundesliga, etc. 

For Saudi Arabia and Qatar -which are the main countries with an explicit interest in football players from Europe- the reasons for signing these players is rather evident. They want to come to the spotlight, obtain widespread attention and increase the leagues’ global visibility. 

But what’s in it for the footballers themselves? 

The short answer to that is money. But it’s also the “long” answer to it as well. Gulf countries are willing to invest enormous amounts of money to get big star footballers to their own fields. Ronaldo’s contract gave him a total of more than $500 million for less than three years, Benzema signed a contract securing nearly $300 million for the time he will spend at Al-Ittihad, while Neymar Jr agreed on an amount of nearly $81million per year. That’s really a lot of money. And if we consider that this kind of money is given to these players at the twilight of their professional football career, then it becomes rather obvious why big stars like Ronaldo, Benzema, Neymar and others of course, opt for rich leagues. 

But there’s more to it. Playing for a rising league is not the same as playing for the world’s most popular leagues. Being part of a league that is now going to write its own history and climb up the ladder of success on a global level, is much more worthy for players who have been accustomed to being in the spotlight for their entire professional lives. As they are moving down the road of exiting their career in football – mostly because this sport is an early-age-retirement sport – they want to be part of something bigger than them where they can also make a difference. And what’s bigger than a filthy-rich league aspiring to become one of the world’s top football leagues?