Revealed: Why Cristiano Ronaldo and Neymar did not cost Al-Nassr or Al-Hilal anything as Saudi Pro League chief outlines competition's transfer structure

Portuguese superstar Ronaldo started the trend of top European-based talent heading to the Middle East, with the five-time Ballon d’Or winner making his switch as a free agent after being released by Manchester United. He was handed the most lucrative contract in world football by Al-Nassr, with those terms said to be worth £177 million ($221m) per year.

Neymar is reported to be earning £131m ($163m) a year at Al-Hilal, with his transfer from Paris Saint-Germain also including a €90m (£79m/$98m) fee. Once again, that agreement came at no cost to the club acquiring the iconic Brazilian forward.

That is because Saudi Pro League organisers put a recruitment programme in place prior to Ronaldo being snapped up. That ambitious project saw every club in the SPL given a large pot of money with which to attract top talent to the region – with further deals being done for the likes of Karim Benzema, Sadio Mane, Riyad Mahrez, Aymeric Laporte and N’Golo Kante in the summer.

Explaining how that works, and why Al-Nassr and Al-Hilal are not being left out of pocket, Saad Al-Laziz – vice-chairman of the Saudi Pro League board of directors – has told Kora Rotana: “Al-Nassr did not pay any dollars to sign Ronaldo, the recruitment program in SPL is the one who is responsible for signing Ronaldo and paying him his salary. Same thing happened with Neymar to Al-Hilal and Jota to Ittihad and [Marcelo] Brozovic and Otavio to Al-Nassr. Ronaldo was never going to Al-Hilal, the negotiations with the player was just about Al-Nassr.”

More household names are expected to head to the Middle East in upcoming transfer windows, with there still plenty of funds available to SPL teams. There has been talk of Liverpool superstar Mohamed Salah being the next to complete a big-money transfer, with Saudi sides looking to raise the standard and profile of the game in their country ahead of filling hosting duties at the 2034 World Cup.