The Saudi Pro League is set to have three Ballon d’Or winners and the two greatest players of all time come the next football season.
This move will is set to put itself in the limelight by being the face of football and boost its popularity in the game by a potential signing of both Lionel Messi and Karim Benzema, having already acquired Cristiano Ronaldo.
The Saudi Pro League is a top-tier professional league in Saudi Arabia, founded in 1976. The league is ranked top of the Asian Football Confederation due to the successful outings of their clubs in the AFC Champions League.
Al Hilal is the most successful club in the history of the competition with 18 titles. The current season has already ended with Al-Ittihad clinching their 9th title after a fierce contest with Al Nassr.
Al Nassr completed the free transfer of Cristiano Ronaldo after the termination of his contract with Manchester United after the 2022 Qatar World Cup, where he was made the highest-paid athlete in the world.
Ronaldo notched a total of 14 goals in 19 appearances having joined them in the middle of the season, and was seven shy of golden boot winner, Abderrazak Hamdallah (21 goals).
With the 2023/2024 season coming up in August, there’s every possibility of having three iconic stars in the game.
Saudi Pro League About to Have Messi and Benzema
Messi to Al Hilal?
With PSG having confirmed that Lionel Messi will leave the club at the end of his contract this summer, Al Hilal has already offered him a mammoth offer to fend off a return to his beloved Barcelona.
It’s reported that Lionel Messi is on the verge of accepting 1.2 billion Euros to join Al Hilal over two years. If the deal goes through, it will put Messi on the top podium as the highest earner in sports and will reunite another phase of rivalry between him and Ronaldo in the Saudi Pro League.
Al-Ittihad Offers Benzema a Deal
Karim Benzema is another star whose deal is up in the summer. Having been offered a contract extension to continue at the Bernabeu, Al-Ittihad has already entered the fray by offering him a 400 million Euros deal per year.
With the offer still on the table, Benzema has already informed Madrid’s President (Fiorentino Perez) about the deal and is weighing his options.
It is now reported that the Real Madrid striker has already inquired from his ex-teammate, Ronaldo about life in Saudi Arabia and what the league is like.
The 35-year-old French Ballon d’Or winner has spent 14 years with Los Blancos winning 4 La Liga titles, 5 Champions League, 4 European Super Cups, 5 Club World Cups, 3 Copa del Rey, and 4 Spanish Super Cups.
Ronaldo, Messi, and Benzema have scored a combination of 2,099 goals amongst them, with Ronaldo scoring 837 goals, Messi 806 goals, while Benzema has a total of 456 goals.
Lionel Messi has won a total of 7 Ballon d’Ors, closely followed by Cristiano Ronaldo with 5, while Karim Benzema is the current holder, having won his first-ever accolade in 2022.