Al-Hilal Spend While Al-Nassr Struggle... What Is Happening in the Saudi League?

The summer transfer window may not have opened yet, but plenty of Roshn League clubs have already pushed their business forward. Al-Nassr are the exception.

A financial crisis has left them among the very few clubs set to enter the window without a single deal done.

That same crisis has stopped them replacing Croatia's Marcelo Brozovic, who left officially when his contract expired at the end of last season.

Al-Nassr did try to land Portugal's Samu Costa, the Real Mallorca midfielder, at the request of Australian coach Ange Postecoglou. Saudi newspaper "Asharq Al-Awsat" reports the deal would cost them just 9 million euros.

Approval, though, has yet to come. Strict oversight governs the club's signings, and the budget for the deal must be signed off before the executive committee can conclude negotiations.

Al-Hilal, on the other hand, are enjoying a historic transfer window before it has even begun, having already wrapped up the signings of five domestic players: Mohammed Al-Owais, Mohammed Al-Sarnoukh, Nawaf Al-Habashi, Abdullah Al-Enezi and Sabri Dahl.

The biggest deal is still to come. It's the signing of Dutchman Crysencio Summerville, the West Ham United winger.

According to the reliable journalist David Ornstein, Al-Hilal have already struck an agreement with West Ham for the Dutch winger worth 80 million euros, making him the second most expensive player in the history of the Saudi league.

Summerville leapfrogs Colombian Jhon Duran, whom Al-Nassr signed from Aston Villa for 77 million euros, though he sits behind Brazilian Neymar da Silva, who joined Al-Hilal from Paris Saint-Germain for 90 million.

Strangely, Al-Hilal's offer was almost double what Roma had put on the table. The Italian club sent their third and final bid today, Tuesday, worth 46 million euros, before "the Leader" stepped in and sealed the deal, according to the reliable journalist Ben Jacobs.

Other global targets are being linked with the club too, among them Italian defender Alessandro Bastoni from Inter Milan and England striker Harry Kane from Bayern Munich.

The social-media comparisons between Al-Hilal and Al-Nassr are nothing new. Fans have thrashed them out in every transfer window, the last winter mercato included.

Al-Hilal wrapped up seven deals in that window, led by French striker Karim Benzema and his compatriots Simon Bouabré and Mohamed Kader Meïté. Al-Nassr, by contrast, brought in just Abdullah Al-Hamdan on a free transfer after he terminated his contract with "the Leader".

That gulf between the two clubs sparked fury. It came not only from Al-Nassr's fans but from their Portuguese star Cristiano Ronaldo, who was angry enough to sit out some matches over the situation.

Saudi league officials answered Ronaldo's frustration by insisting Al-Hilal's deals fell outside the recruitment committee's funds. Behind them stood Saudi billionaire Prince Al-Waleed bin Talal, at the time honorary president of "the Leader", who backed the moves in full.

The gulf between Al-Hilal and Al-Nassr in particular has widened over the current summer window, and it comes down to who owns each club. That picture has changed completely since last April.

Roughly three months ago, Kingdom Holding Company, owned by Prince Al-Waleed bin Talal, snapped up 70% of Al-Hilal's shares for 840 million riyals.

Al-Hilal have since passed out of the hands of the Saudi Public Investment Fund. That leaves "the Leader" free to close deals without the budget constraints handed down by the recruitment committee.

Al-Nassr, by contrast, remain owned by the Saudi Public Investment Fund and tied to the budget the recruitment committee sets for them.

Press reports paint a bleak picture. Al-Nassr are said to be enduring the biggest financial crisis in their history, forcing them to accept restrictions on every deal they do.