The Saudi Pro League has courted controversy since its inception as the vast wealth in that country has meant that the league has seen in influx of some of the world’s best players.
Even though several of those players are nearing the end of their careers, they have yet pulled off some incredible coups by merely doling out cash.
We have witnessed a number of ludicrously expensive transactions, and Caught Offside claims that we may be ready to witness another given that they are reportedly considering paying €100 million (£85 million) for Casemiro of Manchester United.
That’s the same Casemiro who, in the penultimate Premier League match against us, had Man United’s lone strong performance in the second half of the season.
Saudis have money to burn – they might be better off just setting £85m on fire here
Al-Nassr don’t seem to worry that Casemiro, who is 32 years old, is fading into a shell of his former self and is unlikely to win Player of the Year at Manchester United following the recent season.
If this is true, and it is approved for anything close to the suggested fee. If Newcastle United supporters manage to witness even half of it, they have every right to go completely crazy.
The Saudi PIF, which also owns Al-Ittihad, Al-Ahli, Al-Nassr, and Al-Hilal, is the main owner of Newcastle. The Magpies have only sold one player to the Saudi Pro League thus far, Allan Saint-Maximin, to Al-Ahli for £25 million.
Make it make sense, please
When that deal happened fans of the other 19 Premier League clubs lost their minds and the deal was scrutinised under Fair Market Value even though, if we’d sold Maxi to anybody else we could easily have squeezed another £10million out of the deal.
So granted, there’s a connection between us and Al-Ahli so, yes, Fair Market Value has to come into it, but why then, does it not have to for other clubs? If Man United can shift Casemiro for £85million when he’s worth about £15million, why can’t we sell Sean Longstaff to an unaffiliated Saudi club for £80million?
If Fair Market Value is a thing for connected clubs, then it has to be a thing for everyone else regardless otherwise it creates disparity like this.
Just the mere mention of us selling a player to the Saudi Pro League would cause ructions, even if it was one of the clubs not owned by the PIF.
We’ll be keeping an eye on this one for sure. £85million for Casemiro, man. What’s going on?
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