Saudi Pro League Transfer Window Closes After £700m Summer Spend And Late Failed Moves For Mo Salah And Jadon Sancho

The Saudi Pro League's transfer window closed on Thursday night, ending a remarkable summer recruitment drive.

More than £700 million was spent on transfer fees by Saudi clubs, while many big names also arrived from Europe on free transfers, motivated in part by the huge tax-free salaries on offer.

Four of the most active Saudi clubs in the summer window were Al-Ittihad, Al Nassr, Al-Hilal and Al-Ahli. All four of those clubs are owned by Saudi Arabia's Public Investment Fund, which also owns Newcastle United.

Karim Benzema, N'Golo Kante and Fabinho joined Saudi champions Al-Ittihad, while Aymeric Laporte, Alex Telles, Sadio Mane and Marcelo Brozovic followed Cristiano Ronaldo to Al Nassr.

Karim Benzema joined Al-Ittihad on a free transfer from Real Madrid in June

ittihadclub.sa

Al-Hilal brought in Neymar, Ruben Neves, Kalidou Koulibaly, Sergej Milinkovic-Savic and Aleksandar Mitrovic, with Al-Ahli signing Riyad Mahrez, Allan Saint-Maximin, Edouard Mendy and Roberto Firmino.

Neymar's £77.6m move from Paris Saint-Germain to Al-Hilal was the most expensive Saudi transfer of the summer.

However, Al-Ittihad had a £150m offer for Liverpool forward Mo Salah turned down on September 1.

It had been rumored that Al-Ittihad may return with an increased offer before Thursday's deadline but nothing materialized.

Liverpool rejected a £150m bid from Al-Ittihad for Mo Salah

IMAGO/Peter Byrne

Manchester United winger Jadon Sancho was also linked with a last-minute switch to Saudi Arabia. 

Al-Ettifaq, the club managed by Steven Gerrard, reportedly failed with a late bid to sign Sancho.

According to the Daily Mail, United were willing to let Sancho go on a season-long loan but wanted Al-Ettifaq to commit to paying £50m next summer to make the move permanent. It is said that the Dammam-based club could simply not afford this.

Al-Ettifaq - who had already signed Jordan Henderson, Demarai Gray and Georginio Wijnaldum this summer - are nowhere near as wealthy as Saudi Arabia's four PIF-owned clubs.

The Saudi Pro League's winter transfer window is set to open on January 1.

Al-Ettifaq wanted to sign Jadon Sancho but could not afford to meet Manchester United's asking price

IMAGO/Sportimage/Gary Oakley