News that Vini Jr hadn’t necessarily turned his nose up at a reported bid from the Saudi Pro League, which included a salary of €350m per year, was something of a surprise to many.
The Brazilian is odds on to become the Ballon d’Or this year, after his Real Madrid side waltzed to another La Liga title and Champions League title.
On Wednesday night they added the UEFA Super Cup for good measure with a 2-0 win over Atlanta.
Los Blancos, now with the addition of Kylian Mbappe to their ranks, are certainly going to be the force to be reckoned with in 2024/25, and it makes you wonder why Vini Jr. might even have been tempted by the move to Saudi Arabia.
Stan Collymore isn’t impressed by Saudi offer to Vini Jr
Stan Collymore certainly isn’t impressed.
“It’s hard to wrap your head around the numbers coming out of the Saudi Pro League. I mean, €350m a year to effectively buy yourself a poster boy for potentially the 2034 World Cup is ridiculous,” he said to CaughtOffside for his exclusive column.
“They could be putting that €350m into Saudi grassroots football and infrastructure, but maybe this is the way that they’re going to go if they want to create a football environment and a football culture in Saudi Arabia.
“[…] I’m not even convinced that Vini Jr, if he went there for the kind of money that’s being put on the table, would be half as big a name as Ronaldo.
“The amount of money… it makes no sense, but the Saudi’s aren’t looking for it to make sense. They’re looking to make an immediate impact on football, like they’ve done with LIV golf, and like they’ve done with boxing.
“It’s just completely, completely bonkers.”
That’s certainly a justification for the Saudi’s to be using their resources to build a more long-term and sustainable league, rather than the ‘boom and bust’ type scenario we’re seeing at present.
Though the SPL is unlikely to go the way of America’s NASL from way back in the 1970s, if the 68th best league in the world (TeamForm) wants to be taken seriously, then they’ve got to do things properly.
Handing out €350m per year contracts isn’t proper in any way, shape or form.