Saudi Pro League Target ‘Cristiano Ronaldo-Level’ Transfer After World Cup

Mohamed Salah and Vinicius Junior are not the only big-name stars being eyed up by the Saudi Pro League.

Cristiano Ronaldo is set to be superseded in the Saudi Pro League. | Fayez NURELDINE/AFP/Getty Images

The Saudi Pro League are reportedly lining up a move for Paris Saint-Germain superstar Ousmane Dembélé in their search for a marquee arrival billed to be on the level of Cristiano Ronaldo.

Dembélé is the reigning Ballon d’Or holder and, unlike Karim Benzema, who joined Al Ittihad aged 35, remains very much in the prime of his career. This outrageous approach for the 28-year-old is already in its preliminary stages according to Sky Sports News. Any move is expected to be saved until after France’s run at this summer’s World Cup, yet the prospect supposedly hasn’t been flatly ruled out.

The highly ambitious Pro League elbowed its way into the global conversation by handing Ronaldo the biggest contract in world soccer in December 2022. As that first influx of celebrity recruits inch towards the conclusion of their exorbitant deals, a younger profile is being targeted for the new wave of additions. Dembélé may not be so unlikely a target.

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Why Would Ousmane Dembélé Leave PSG?

Ousmane Dembélé’s season has been riddled with injury. | Carlos Rodrigues/Getty Images

After spending six largely unhappy years at Barcelona, where his video game habits were scrutinized as much as his wing play given the proliferation of injuries which limited his involved, Dembélé rediscovered the sense of fun which had been such a feature of his play before that the Catalan misadventure.

Reconfigured into a hard-pressing, roving center forward by Luis Enrique, Dembélé was a deserving winner of every individual award going while finishing as the top scorer for a PSG team that lifted a European treble.

After racking up his 100th appearance for the club back in October, club president Nasser Al Khelaifi joked that he hoped he would play 1,000 more. Whether he will rack up 20 more has been put up in the air by the latest contract development.

With two-and-a-half years remaining on his current PSG deal, talks of an extension are thought to have been opened. However, reports have surfaced claiming that there has been some disagreement over the personal terms on offer for Dembélé.

Al Khelaifi recently warned that no player, even one of Dembélé’s caliber, would force PSG to break from their strict wage structure: “The club’s policy is that we have a salary cap for the players, as everyone knows. Everyone must respect it. The team and the club are more important than anyone.”

PSG stuck to their word in this regard over the summer when they ushered Gianluigi Donnarumma out of the club despite establishing himself as the best goalkeeper in the world last season. The Italian’s replacement, Lucas Chevalier, has not lived up to his predecessor’s lofty reputation, but it appears as though the club will not budge on their strict salary stance.

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How Much Would Ousmane Dembélé Cost?

Ousmane Dembélé has struggled to stay fit this season. | Xavier Laine/Getty Images

There should be no salary issues for the Saudi Pro League. Backed by the Kingdom’s Public Investment Fund, any of Al Nassr, Al Hilal, Al Ittihad or Al Ahli are in a financial position to put together a “significant package,” according to SSN.

The exact figures involved are more vague.

Despite his lofty standing as arguably the world’s best player, at the age of 28 and with a contract which expires in 2028, Dembélé is not thought to be among the globe’s most expensive assets. Intriguingly, the World Cup winner was not included among the 100 most valuable players in world soccer by the CIES Football Observatory’s statistical model.

Transfermarkt aggregate the estimates of thousands of fans and value Dembélé at €100 million ($119.6 million). While that may not seem like the most scientific method, numerous professional clubs have officially cited the website founded by a Werder Bremen fan in 2000 when publishing their financial reports.

Should Dembélé command a nine-digit fee, he would become the first player to ever command in excess of €100 million on two separate occasions. Fittingly, Ronaldo comes closest to breaking this remarkable high watermark, having joined Real Madrid for €94 million in 2009 before leaving the Spanish giants to join Juventus for €100 million nine years later.

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