If there was any doubt whatsoever that the Saudi Pro League project wasn’t anything but serious, news that a major Chelsea star could be making a move there should have everyone sitting up and taking notice.
Just as with the Chinese Super League a few years ago, the riches that appear to be on offer for players should they decide to move to the Middle East are somewhat incomprehensible.
Cristiano Ronaldo was the first to make the move joining up with Al Nassr with Karim Benzema recently joining Al Ittihad, and now, with the 2022/23 season finally at an end, it appears that owners of the biggest clubs in the league are going to try their best to hoover up some more of European football’s best talent.
Al Hilal recently missed out on signing Lionel Messi on a whopping €400m+ per year contract (h/t Sport), and with that in mind, they’re clearly still looking for a big name to rival the likes of Ronaldo and Benzema.
According to Goal, they’ve not only made a €25m per season offer to Chelsea’s Romelu Lukaku, a Champions League loser with Inter on Saturday, but the Belgian has already made a trip to the region to discuss the same.
That will surely come as a huge surprise to both Inter and the Blues, as turning his loan move to the Serie A giant into a permanent one might well have been expected.
It’s hard to see Lukaku turning that kind of money down, given that it’s believed he wants to leave the Stamford Bridge outfit in any event.