Exclusive: Saudi Football’s next chapter isn’t about big names.. So what is it? English journalist reveals for Foot Africa

Exclusive

Saudi Pro League adopts long term recruitment strategy

Exclusive 07 April 2026 at 15:26

Add Foot Africa on Google

Exclusive: Saudi Football’s next chapter isn’t about big names.. So what is it? English journalist reveals for Foot Africa

For all the noise around marquee arrivals and huge salaries, the Saudi Pro League may now be approaching its most important test.

In an interview with Foot Africa, sports broadcaster & football journalist Ben Jacobs argued that the Saudi Pro League has moved beyond the phase of simply buying attention.

His view is that the next chapter will be judged less by headline-grabbing arrivals and more by whether Saudi clubs can attract younger talent, improve it and turn the league into a more credible sporting destination before FIFA World Cup 2026 cycle and, longer term, Saudi Arabia’s hosting of the 2034 World Cup.

Saudi Arabia was formally appointed host of the 2034 FIFA World Cup in December 2024 while Saudi Pro League rules already allow clubs to register eight non Saudi players without an age limit and two more born in 2003 or later, a regulation designed to encourage investment in younger talent.

From splash to structure

Jacobs’ central point is simple.. 2023 was the opening statement, not the finished product. In that first rush, the league leaned heavily on star power and recognisable names because it needed instant visibility.

Now he believes the conversation inside Saudi football has changed. The target is no longer only the iconic veteran who can sell shirts and command global headlines. It is increasingly the player in or near his prime, the kind of signing that says something about the level of the league rather than only its wealth.

That shift is visible in the league’s own messaging. On 11 July 2024 the Saudi Pro League said its Player Acquisition Centre of Excellence or PACE, had recruited 97 player, reviewed more than 200 contracts, reduced the average age of signings from 29 to 27.5 and was aiming to push that figure even lower with a focus on U21 players.

That is not the language of a competition content to be dismissed as a late career stop.

Why younger signings matter more now

This is why Jacobs sees players like Ivan Toney & Moussa Diaby as more important to the league’s image than another purely symbolic signing.

Toney now leading the line for Al Ahli, has 26 goal & six assist in the 2025 /26 league season according to the Saudi Pro League’s official stats.

Diaby joined Al Ittihad on a five year deal in July 2024 at the age of 25 exactly the kind of peak age move Saudi clubs were not consistently landing at the start of the project.

Jacobs also pointed to the value of two way market and there is already a real example to support that argument.

In June 2025, Gabriel Veiga left Al Ahli for Porto after two season in Saudi Arabia. For the league, that sort of departure matters almost as much as an arrival.

It helps make the case that Saudi is not trying to become a finishing school for ageing stars but a competition where players can grow, raise their value and still move back into Europe.

The label Saudi wants to shake

The retirement league tag has not disappeared and Saudi football still has to prove plenty on the pitch.

Jacobs is right about one thing, though, perception does not change in a single transfer window.

The Premier League did not become the most marketable league in the world overnight and Saudi’s decision makers clearly believe the same patience is required here.

That is why the real test is still ahead. If the next wave brings more peak age recruits, more upward moving young players and more cases like Veiga’s, then the argument around Saudi football will change.

It will no longer be about whether the league can spend. It will be about whether it has started to build something that lasts.

Khaled Hegazy |

Editorar, en

Journaliste sportif spécialisé dans la couverture du football et la création de contenu numérique, alliant expérience éditoriale et expertise des médias sociaux.