Ronaldo, Mané or Benzema. What would the Saudi Pro League top 11 look like and would they have a chance in Europe?

Saudi Arabia has decided to lean heavily into football. The arrival of Cristiano Ronaldo in the winter kick-started everything, and since the summer one star after another has been coming to the Middle East. What would the league’s best eleven look like?

Goalkeeper – Edouard Mendy – Al-Ahli

The 2021 Champions League winner, Edouard Mendy helped Chelsea to a historic second trophy in the most prestigious competition, and was praised by Petr Cech. But gradually his performances declined until he lost his place to Kepa Arrizabalaga. So he chose to leave for Al-Ahli.

Defender – Kalidou Koulibaly – Al-Hilal

He was a mainstay of Napoli for many years, clocking up eight seasons in which he was often ranked among the best stoppers in Europe, with talk of interest from a big club every six months. The transfer finally came last summer, but Koulibaly did not fare well at Chelsea and after one year he left for Al-Hilal.

Defender – Fabinho – Al-Ittihad

Due to the overload in midfield and the lack of defenders, we moved Fabinho to stopper, where he also featured often at Liverpool. The Brazilian’s transfer was almost spoiled by the somewhat bizarre fact that the breed of dog Fabinho has at home is banned in Saudi Arabia. Eventually everything was sorted out and the experienced footballer was able to join Al-Ittihad.

Defender – Alex Telles – Al-Nassr

One of Porto’s workhorses and an offensive left back who was in high demand. Alex Telles came to Manchester United with that hallmark, but he didn’t build on his performances there, even on loan at Sevilla. So he will supply Ronaldo with his centres at Al-Nasser.

Wide midfielder – Riyad Mahrez – Al-Ahli

A player in arguably his most brilliant form and at the peak of his powers. He finally conquered the Champions League last season with Manchester City, adding the Premier League and a personal record of 15+12. However, at the age of 32, he has decided to leave and will now play for Al-Ahli.

Central midfielder – N’golo Kanté – Al-Ittihad

The ever smiling and everybody’s favourite footballer. Even N’golo Kanté is well advanced in his footballing age and at 32, he decided that after a season that he almost wasted it all, it was the perfect time to leave.

Central midfielder – Marcelo Brozovic – Al-Nassr

The other Champions League finalist from May 2023 also sent a representative to Arabia. Marcelo Brozovic spent 9 long years at Inter, after which he decided to try an Arab adventure at the age of 30.

Central midfielder – Sergej Milinkovic-Savic – Al-Hilal

The second most expensive transfer in the Saudi Pro League, Milinkovic-Savic cost Al-Hilal €40 million. The Serbian midfielder had long been linked with a move to the Premier League, particularly to Manchester United, but eventually left Lazio for the Middle East.

Al-Nassr – Sadio Mané

As recently as last year, this transfer would have made absolutely no sense. Sadio Mané took Liverpool to the Champions League final, was one of the best strikers and according to the Ballon d’Or awards was the second best footballer in the world for 2022. But his transfer to Bayern didn’t work out at all, he didn’t settle in Germany and chose to move to Saudi Arabia instead.

Striker – Karim Benzema – Al-Ittihad

Even the still fresh Ballon d’Or winner is already in Arabia. Karim Benzema has ended a 14-year engagement at Real Madrid and has opted to leave for Al-Ittihad. He was logically attracted by the huge salary, which should be equal to Ronaldo’s.

Striker – Cristiano Ronaldo – Al-Nassr

A pioneer of Arab football. That’s how Cristiano Ronaldo described himself when, in his words, most players followed him. Of course, money plays a big part in this, but the Saudis had that before and no big stars flowed into Arabia before Ronaldo. He is currently the highest paid athlete in the world, although Benzema should have been given a contract on his level.

Lineup

Mendy
Koulibaly – Fabinho – Telles
Mahrez – Kante – Brozovic – Milinkovic-Savic – Mane
Benzema – Ronaldo

Bench: Ruben Neves, Jordan Henderson, Roberto Firmino, Malcom, Alan Saint-Maximin, Jota, Seko Fofana, Moussa Dembélé, Grzegorz Krychowiak, Jason Denayer.

Would this team have what it takes to succeed in a European competition or directly in the Champions League?

Source: Transfermarkt