Since this year, more and more attention has been focused on the Saudi Arabian Championship. First Cristiano Ronaldo moved there, then Karim Benzema, Neymar, Sadio Mane, Riyad Mahrez, Roberto Firmino and other famous footballers.
Former RPL legionnaires also perform there: some from this season, others were ahead of the mainstream and ended up earlier in the local Pro League. Now there are six of those heroes (plus a trainer), and this is what happens to them.
Malcom in Russia and Saudi Arabia
Photo: Dmitry Golubovich, “Championship”/Getty Images
Name: malcolm When and for whom did you play in Russia? Zenit, 2019-2023 Where he plays in Saudi Arabia: “Al-Hilal” When and how long the change took: in the summer of 2023, 60 million euros Statistics in the Pro League: 14 games, 9 goals and 4 assists Star companions: Yassine Bono, Kalidou Koulibaly, Sergej Milinkovic-Savic, Rubén Neves, Neymar, Alexander Mitrovic
Malcom is one of those Brazilians who are ready to go anywhere for a solid salary, but at the same time they do not play and try to earn every dollar invested in them with excellent play. He fully demonstrated it in Russia and continues to demonstrate it in Saudi Arabia.
The former Zenit player has 13 goals in the 2023/2024 Pro League, only Cristiano (Al-Nasr, 15+7), Murad Batn (Al-Fateh, 7+7) and his teammate Alexander Mitrovic (11+3). Furthermore, Malcolm has two hat-tricks to his credit: in his debut match against Abha (3-1) and recently against poor Al-Hazem (9-0).
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Largely thanks to the Brazilian, Al-Hilal confidently leads the Championship: according to the results of 14 rounds, it is ahead of Ronaldo’s Al-Nasr by seven points, and Mahrez’s Al-Ahly, third, by 11. And this without being out of combat for a long time – due to Neymar’s serious injury. The transfer was clearly a success.
Solomon Kverkvelia in Russia and Saudi Arabia
Photo: Dmitry Golubovich, “Championship”/alakhdoud.com
Name: Solomon Kverkvelia When and for whom did you play in Russia? Rubin (2011-2017), Neftekhimik (2012), Lokomotiv (2017-2021), Rotor (2020-2021) Where he plays in Saudi Arabia: “Al-Ohdud” When and how long the change took: summer 2023, free agent Statistics in the Pro League: 14 games (1 clean sheet), 0 warnings Star companions: —
After leaving the RPL, Solomon traveled for a couple of years through the countries of the former USSR: he played for the Ukrainian Metalist 1925 (2021, six games), for FC Gagra of Georgia (2022, 12) and for Neftchi of Azerbaijan (2022-2023, 33, two goals). And this summer he became a soccer player for Saudi outsider Al-Ohdud.
There are only four rich guys in the Pro League: Al-Hilal, Al-Nasr, Al-Ahly and Benzema’s Al-Ittihad. And two more clubs are a little more modest: Yannick Carrasco’s Al-Shabab and Jordan Henderson’s Al-Ittifaq. The rest are content with legionnaires of average fame. Kverkvelia’s teammates are the Romanians Andrei Burca and Florin Tanase, the Spanish Alex Collado, the Nigerian Saviur Godwin, the Cameroonian Leandre Tawamba and the Colombian Juan Pedrosa. Okay, it’s a regular compiler. In total, he is valued at 17.33 million euros, one of the worst figures in Saudi Arabia.
Al-Ohdud in the 2023/2024 season
Photo: alakhdoud.com
It is not surprising that this dream team is fighting to survive: it is in 16th place out of 18 with 10 points: three points behind the saving lines 14 and 15. The 31-year-old Georgian defender played all 14 games without changes and only one of They came back clean. But he has 11 tackles, 20 interceptions and only seven fouls with no cards. Koulibaly, in comparison, has 16 tackles, 13 interceptions, 11 fouls and one yellow in 11 games. That is, the statistics are approximately comparable. The only thing incomparable is his equipment.
Grzegorz Krychowiak/François Camano in Russia and Saudi Arabia
Photo: “Championship”/abhafc.sa
Names: Grzegorz Krychowiak/François CamanoWhen and for whom they played in Russia: Lokomotiv (2017-2021), Krasnodar (2021-2023)/Lokomotiv (2020-2023) Where they play in Saudi Arabia: “Abhá” When and how much you transferred: summer 2023, free agents Statistics in the Pro League: 14 games, 2 goals and 1 assist/14 games, 1 assist Star companions: Ciprian Tăterusanu, Carl Toko Ekambi
In fact, Krychowiak moved to Saudi Arabia in July 2022, from the Greek AIK to Al-Shabab. After spending a year there, he became an Abhi player, recreating the Loko team with Kamano. Both players do not shine at all in the Pro League: although they played all 14 games, between them they only have 2+2 goals and assists. Karl Toko Ekambi himself, for example, scored five goals in 10 games. The “Abhi” squad is much more famous than that of “Al-Okhdud” Kverkvelia and is valued at 24.23 million euros: the ninth squad in the championship. However, only three points separate the teams in the table.
In terms of advanced statistics, the Pole has 14 shots (six on goal), 13 fouls (28 on him), 12 tackles, 17 interceptions and three yellow cards. On the contrary, Milinkovic-Savic has 11 games, three goals, three assists, 28 shots (12 on goal), 25 fouls (19 on him), 13 tackles, six interceptions and one red card. Taking into account Krychowiak’s handicap from three games played, the Serbian will further reduce the difference in interceptions. But in other respects the advantage is obvious.
The Guinean has 18 shots (seven on goal), 16 fouls (seven on him), 11 tackles, two interceptions and a yellow card. Let’s compare with another hero of our team: Malcolm: 14 games, nine goals, four assists, 43 shots (18 on goal), eight infractions (23 against him), four tackles and five interceptions. Questions, Francisco?
Vitinho in Russia and Saudi Arabia
Photo: Denis Tyrin, “Championship”/ettifaq.com
Name: VitinhoWhen and for whom did you play in Russia? CSKA, 2013-2018 Where he plays in Saudi Arabia: “Al-Ittifaq” When and how long the change took: summer 2022, free agent Statistics in the Pro League: 4 games, 2 goals and 1 assist Star companions: Jordan Henderson, Jorginho Wijnaldum, Demarai Gray, Moussa Dembélé
In addition to CSKA, Vitinho played only in his home country until the summer of 2022. It seemed that he was an exclusively local footballer, since in Russia he did not shine at all. However, Al-Ittifaq took him out. Yes, the Brazilian ended up in Saudi Arabia at a time when almost no one in the world was watching his championship.
In his first season he played 27 games in the Pro-League (third result for the team), scoring 3+2. In the current season he has only four games in which he scored 2 + 1. And his injuries have nothing to do with that: he didn’t suffer any injuries in Saudi Arabia. The issue is fierce competition and a strict limit for foreign players: no more than eight foreigners.
Steven Gerrard’s team made a big purchase in the summer: it was necessary to exclude some former foreign players from the application. They acquired the expensive Demarai Gray to replace Vitinho, so the choice fell on the Brazilian. This year he is banned from playing Pro League games and, early next year, he will apparently change teams. Gray, by the way, in nine games scored only 1+2, the same three performance points that Vitinho scored in four games. And why did they castle?
Let’s remember how Vitinho played for CSKA:
“They trusted him as a leader, but he pouted.” One of CSKA’s most controversial transfers
Fashion Sakala in Russia and Saudi Arabia
Photo: Alexander Mysyakin, “Championship”/alfiha.com
Name: Sakala Fashion When and for whom did you play in Russia? “Spartak-2”, 2017-2018 Where he plays in Saudi Arabia: “Al-Feiha” When and how long the change took: in the summer of 2023, for 4.65 million euros from Rangers Statistics in the Pro League: 14 games, 6 goals and 2 assists Star companions: Henry Onyekuru, Ghislaine Conan
The Zambian played in the First League for two years with the second team Spartak, without ever playing for the red and white team. But then Belgian club Ostend believed in him, so he ended up at Rangers. With the Scottish giants, Sakala reached the final of the 2021/2022 Europa League and continued to progress. It seemed that a transfer to a team in the top 5 leagues was inevitable, but Fashion, at the age of 26, chose Saudi Arabia. Hello, comfortable old age.
“Al-Feiha” got it completely right with the newcomer. The forward played in all 14 Pro League games and scored eight points, just like Odion Ighalo, Mane and Dembélé! Of course, this is the best indicator in the club, where he is actually the most star player. Sakala’s shooting statistics also command respect: 50 on target and 17 on goal. Benzema himself has 48 and 24 (eight goals). It’s true, for 12 games.
Regarding the cost of the squad, Al-Feikha is the eighth in Saudi Arabia (28.2 million euros). She is eighth in the championship with 19 points. Without Fashion the situation would have been clearly worse. By the way, we are not implying anything, but Spartak now has problems with its central forwards. Maybe the red and white should take a closer look at an African goalscorer?
How fashion conquered Belgium:
“I wanted to get out of Russia as soon as possible.” The former Spartak-2 striker is a star in Belgium
Slaven Bilic in Russia and Saudi Arabia
Photo: Alexander Mysyakin, “Championship”/fatehclub.com
Name: Slaven Bilic When and who trained in Russia? Locomotive, 2012-2013 Where do you train in Saudi Arabia? “Al-Fateh” When I moved: summer 2023 Star players of the team: Jason Denayer, Lucas Selarayan, Christian Tello
Bilic’s time at Lokomotiv turned out to be very mediocre: Slaven took ninth place and received a phrase from Denis Glushakov that he was supposedly the worst coach of his career. But the Croatian national team under the leadership of Bilic attacked the British and gave Russia a ticket to Euro 2008, which completely negates all the negativity. Slaven landed in Saudi Arabia in June, signing a three-year contract. And so far everything is going to the point that he will solve it: together with the modest Al-Fateh, the Croatian occupies a respectable sixth place, one victory behind third-placed Al-Ahly. At the same time, Fateh’s composition is extremely modest: valued at 22.2 million euros, for tenth place in the Pro League.
Bilic’s star is retired central defender Jason Denayer, 28, who played last season in the United Arab Emirates. And the most useful is the Moroccan right winger Murad Batna (7 + 7), who unexpectedly flourished with Slaven and at 33 years old is having the best season of his career. Many people follow Saudi Arabian football, so we hope that the Croatian’s successes will be appreciated: he is still only 55 years old and it is definitely not too late to return to the top championship.
Memories of that very Croatian match in England, which made all of Russia happy:
“After this game I didn’t watch football for a month.” Drama in the match between Croatia and Türkiye at Euro 2008
THE NAIS IS OFFICIAL EDITOR ON NAIS NEWS