Al Ittihad are making steady progress in the Saudi Pro League, sitting third with 14 points from six games, two behind leaders Al Hilal. A 2-1 win over Al-Fayha on Tuesday kept the momentum going, with goals from George Ilenikhena and Youssef En-Nesyri doing the damage. The result matters, but it also exposed a recurring issue: the team continues to struggle against lower-ranked opponents, and the win was harder than it should have been.

The bigger story hanging over the club is the collapse of the Anis Hadjmoussa transfer. Al Ittihad had agreed to pay Feyenoord 42.5 million euros for the Algerian winger, more than twelve times what the Dutch club originally paid for him. The deal fell apart in the final hours when Feyenoord demanded a bank guarantee that Al Ittihad refused to provide. Dutch media and journalists pointed the blame squarely at Feyenoord board members Devy Renaux and Robert Eijhoven, who reportedly blocked the move under pressure from the Friends of Feyenoord association. As a result, Al Ittihad signed Georginio Wijnaldum on a free transfer from Al Ittifaq as a replacement option. Midfielder Mokhtar Ali is also out injured, which adds further pressure on the squad.

Next up is a trip to face Al-Faisaly at Majmaah Sports City on Thursday, a fixture the club will need to approach with more conviction than recent performances against comparable opposition have shown.