With Mo Salah signing missed, who were the Saudi Pro League's biggest summer transfers?

The Saudi Pro League transfer window closed on Thursday, with Saudi clubs splashing out on a whopping £784.2 million in summer signings, second only to the English Premier League in total spending. 

Though the capture of Mo Salah could have potentially added another £200 million onto that figure, Liverpool insisted the Egyptian King was not for sale and so the 31-year-forward stays at Liverpool until at least January.

The New Arab looks at the footballing superstars poached by Saudi clubs during the summer window, as well as those they failed to catch... for now. 

The jewels in the Saudi Pro League crown
 

1. Karim Benzema

🚨🚨| GOAL: Benzema gives Al Ittihad the lead.

Al Ittihad 2-1 Al Hilal

pic.twitter.com/4DcynaddBu

— CentreGoals. (@centregoals) September 1, 2023

Benzema is a global superstar and one of the greatest strikers of his generation, holding the coveted Ballon d’Or, as well as an astonishing five Champions League titles with Real Madrid.

The French striker was signed for free from the Spanish giants in June by Pro League champions Al-Ittihad on a two-year contract reportedly worth almost £200 million per season.

The 35-year-old has so far netted five goals in nine games over all competitions for the Jeddah club.

2. Neymar Jr

🔖🇸🇦#SaudiArabia: #Neymar greets fans, signs autographs upon arrival in Riyadh: Brazilian footballer Neymar greets fans and signs autographs upon his arrival at a private airport in Riyadh ahead of his unveiling as Al-Hilal's new player. The forward player signed a two-year deal pic.twitter.com/rTzNY4F5T6

— worldnews24u (@worldnews24u) August 18, 2023

Despite being widely touted for a return to Barcelona, the footballing world was shocked when the 31-year-old Brazilian maverick Neymar signed for Riyadh club Al-Hilal for a reported fee of £77 million from Paris Saint-Germain (PSG).

The Brazil captain has yet to make his debut for Al-Hilal due to an injury, though he is expected to do so this month.

3. Sadio Mane

🚨GOAL | Al Hazem 1-5 Al-Nassr | Sadio Mané
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— VAR Tático (@vartatico) September 2, 2023

Mane is widely regarded as one of the greatest wingers in modern football, being part of a famous Liverpool front three, along with Mo Salah and Al-Ahli’s Roberto Firmino, that won the Champions League in 2019 and brought the English league title back to Anfield for the first time in 30 years.

The 31-year-old Senegalese international hooked up with Cristiano Ronaldo at Al-Nassr in early August from Bayern Munich, with a reported transfer fee of £24 million and a four-year deal worth an alleged £650,000 per week. He has so far scored five goals in five league games for the Riyadh club.

4. N’Golo Kante
 

N’golo Kante is still him even in Saudi Arabia 🤩💙pic.twitter.com/HEebffiml8

— Ayo Soye (@AyooSoye) August 29, 2023

Kante signed for Al-Ittihad from Chelsea in June on a four-year deal worth an alleged £86 million.

Though Kante doesn't bring the goals and spectacle that the likes of Benzema, Ronaldo, and Neymar do, he is widely regarded as one of the best defensive midfielders of his generation, famously winning the English Premier League with Leicester City in 2017 and the World Cup with France in 2018. Kante has played seven games for the Pro League champions in all competitions.

5. Riyad Mahrez 

Riyad Mahrez's first Al-Ahli goal was a right-foot rocket 🚀 pic.twitter.com/8MlacXoG9N

— GOAL (@goal) August 18, 2023

Fresh from winning the Champions League with Manchester City last season, Mahrez made the switch to Saudi side Al-Ahli on a four-year deal for around £30 million in July. The Algerian winger was not only, along with Kante, part of the famous Leicester City side that won the EPL, but he also won four other league titles with Pep Guardiola’s record-breaking Manchester City side, scoring 78 goals in the process. The player, who is on a reported annual salary of £45 million, has scored two goals in four games for the Saudi side this season.

The ones who got away?
 

1. Mohamed Salah

Last week, news broke that Liverpool had rejected a massive £150 million deadline-day offer from Al-Ittihad for the Egyptian. The Jeddah side was expected to come back with a renewed offer on Thursday, with many speculating it would surpass the £200 million mark.

With Liverpool manager bullish in his stance that Salah was fully committed to the Merseyside club, the offer failed to materialise. It is expected that Al-Ittihad will refocus on signing the 31-year-old Egyptian in January.

2. Kylian Mbappe

Mbappe is considered to have the potential to reach the same level of greatness as Messi and Ronaldo. Aged only 24, the Frenchman has already won the World Cup, being 6th on the list of all-time top scorers, and has 248 career goals for Monaco and his current club PSG.

However, the lightning-fast striker’s head could not be turned by the offer of an unprecedented one-year deal worth an alleged £605 million from Al-Hilal. The Jeddah-based club were reportedly willing to pay £282 million to capture the French superstar.

3. Lionel Messi

Messi has won everything that the game has to offer, and in record-breaking and inimitable fashion, scoring an unbelievable 726 club goals and being Argentina's all-time record goal scorer. With Messi arguably being the single most recognisable sportsman on earth, Al-Hilal in June reportedly offered the former Barcelona talisman a game-changing deal of £1.5 billion over three years to play for the Riyadh side.

The Argentine turned it down to play for David Beckham’s Major League Soccer side Inter Miami.