Carlo Ancelotti raised an eyebrow and shrugged a little. – It is a surprise for everyone, he said on Monday. The coach talked about his captain, Karim Benzema. Real Madrid consider themselves the team everyone wants to play for. Benzema was the team’s top scorer and last year won the Ballon d’Or as the world’s best player. Ancelotti believed that the 35-year-old was going to stay there for the rest of his career. But now Benzema had said that he would rather play for Al-Ittihad in Saudi Arabia. Cristiano Ronaldo went to the same country in January. Benzema was ready on Tuesday. More may be on the way. This is football’s new eldorado. And it will affect far more than Real Madrid. Daily salary: NOK 12 million The oil state’s powers have become clear during what has become an extraordinary week in sport. On Tuesday, the PGA Tour said it was merging with the rival LIV Tour created by Saudi Arabia. Some believe that the country has now “bought golf”. The day before, the world of football had received its news. Saudi Arabia’s investment fund is buying up 75 percent of four of the biggest clubs in the country – Al-Ittihad, Al-Ahli, Al-Nassr and Al-Hilal – with the aim of making the league one of the top 10 in the world. This means that four teams will in practice have unlimited resources to sign whoever they want. CROWN PRINCE: Mohammed bin Salman has opened the wallet for some of the world’s greatest footballers. Photo: – / AFP This is a revolution directed by the head of state, Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman. There are already rumors of offers that are so big that the stars can hardly say no. How much is it about? The best players in the search-rich Premier League earn approx. 350,000 pounds a week. Al-Nassr pays Cristiano Ronaldo about 10 times as much. On Wednesday, Lionel Messi said he is going to Inter Miami in the United States. If transfer guru Fabrizio Romani is to be believed, that means he has turned down an offer from Al-Hilal worth $400 million per season. So 12 million Norwegian kroner per day. Photo: Skjermbilde/Twitter Certainly Ngolo Kanté, the 32-year-old midfield engine for Chelsea, will now be on his way to al-Ittihad on a contract worth 100 million euros per season. No one in Europe comes close to being able to offer so much. Even if they had the money, the financial regulations set limits on what they can spend on players. The expenses are enormous for the oil state. So what do they get in return for this? The ambassadors Officially, both the signings and the LIV tour are part of “Vision 2030”, a plan which, among other things, is about making the economy less dependent on oil and opening up the country to tourism. Saudi Arabia wants friends and influence. Then few sports, especially football, beat it. In 2021, the investment fund bought Newcastle. Saudi Arabia hosts – incredibly – the Spanish Super Cup. They will organize the World Cup for club teams this year and the Asian Championship in 2027. But the holy grail is the World Cup, which neighbor Qatar organized last year. Saudi Arabia wants the championship in 2030 or 2034. And then it is not just that Bin Salman has become good friends with FIFA president Gianni Infantino. The country must show the rest of the world that they take football seriously, that they deserve respect. So the stars in Saudi Arabia are not just footballers. They are ambassadors. – I think the league here can become one of the five best in the world, Ronaldo said a week ago. FIRST: Cristiano Ronaldo signed for Al-Nassr in Saudi Arabia in January and was the first “Galactico” in football’s new eldorado. diabetes. But if Saudi Arabia are the sporting winners here, then someone has to be the losers. One of these could be Major League Soccer (MLS) in the USA. The battle for Messi The top league in the United States has long been football’s premier retirement home. Stars who are coming to the end of their careers have earned a few extra kroner in exchange for making “soccer” more popular. It began with Pelé in 1975 and continued with David Beckham in 2007. New stars are especially welcome now, because in 2026 the USA will host the World Cup together with Canada and Mexico. In this sense, Saudi Arabia’s entry could not have come at a worse time. NOT NEW: Countries such as China have previously given stars such as Carlos Tévez enough to put on a record, but the venture has later collapsed. Photo: STR / AFP MLS has had rivals before. Qatar picked up a handful of stars just after the turn of the millennium. Russia had a period when rich owners tempted big names east. In 2011, teams in China began targeting stars such as Oscar, Carlos Tévez and Robinho. All of these initiatives collapsed due to a faltering economy and new government priorities. Saudi Arabia settles on a higher level. In Russia and China, the money came from private companies; here the source is an oil state. The signings are not Tévez and Robinho – with all due respect. It’s Benzema and Ronaldo. That Messi has chosen Miami is not only a huge boost for soccer in the United States, but a victory over Saudi Arabia. But both Inter Miami and MLS must have gone to great lengths to land the deal. Saudi Arabia can simply find the wallet. In the battle for the rest of the stars, MLS will struggle heavily. Challenges Europe Saudi Arabia’s revolution will also affect teams in Europe. For better or worse. Across the continent, clubs have players on fat salaries that they want to sell. So rich have the top teams become that if they want to get rid of a star, there are few other teams with the resources to meet the salary demands. But if a team from Saudi Arabia offers double wages, it could lead to a win-win solution. The buying team makes a PR coup. The selling team gets rid of an expense. The agent gets in bags and sacks. And the player can bathe in money like Skrue McDuck. A number of profiles are without a contract this summer. They can choose their next club freely, without anyone having to pay for the transfer. If you are 34 years old, slightly injured and unwanted among the big teams, it can quickly be tempting to take a couple of years in the Middle East with five times the salary. CHALLENGER: Saudi Arabia’s new venture is putting European football to the test. Photo: JORGE FERRARI / AFP Here lies part of the challenge for the teams in Europe. If these are players they actually want to keep, agents can use generous offers from Saudi Arabia to jack up their wage demands. Moreover, Benzema has shown that Saudi Arabia’s top league is not just a retirement home, or a place for profiles that teams in Europe want to get rid of. Saudi Arabia can clearly bring in the players who are the best now. Thus, we should not be as surprised as Ancelotti when the next star abandons Europe in favor of the Middle East. Ronaldo was the first. Benzema is next. He certainly won’t be the last.
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