Čeferin spoke on the topic of transfers to Saudi Arabia: Shopping will not improve anything. Why doesn’t Europe have to worry?

UEFA president Aleksander Čeferin has weighed in on Saudi Arabia’s top football competition, denying fans’ fears that European football could be losing momentum. He said this was not something that should worry European clubs.

It is a current trend. Several players have agreed to leave Europe in recent times, notably Karim Benzema and N’Golo Kanté, and most recently Rúben Neves.

It all kicked off with the transfer of Cristiano Ronaldo, who moved to Al-Nasser at the turn of the year, and now the Saudi Pro League is taking notice of others.

So it’s not just fans who have started to worry whether, even after recent announcements, Saudi Arabia may actually be gaining so much strength that European football will lose its power because of it.

After all, Saudi clubs use state money to afford to bring in stars of this calibre in the first place. But UEFA president Aleksander Čeferin is clear on the matter.

In his view, Saudi Arabia is making the same mistake as China did at the time. Namely, that buying players who are close to the end of their careers is not going to take the league anywhere sportingly. And that’s not something European clubs should be concerned about.

“Players want to win the best competitions and they are in Europe, shopping will not improve Saudi football,” Čeferin said in an interview with Dutch TV station NOS.

This is not the right strategy

“This transfer strategy is a mistake for Saudi football. They should invest this money in academies, bring in coaches and develop their own players. Buying players at the end of their careers is not a system to develop football in the country. China made a similar mistake,” Čeferin is clear.

“Tell me a top player, a young player, who went to Saudi Arabia. The best players in Europe go to Saudi Arabia to earn more money at the end of their careers,” the UEFA president added.

Sources: NOS, Sky Sports