THE Premier League’s biggest transfers could be done three weeks AFTER the window closes.
English clubs have until September 1 to complete their signings for the 2023-24 campaign.
But the Saudi Pro League transfer window does not close until September 20.
And that means the door will remain open for big-money deals to get done and high-profile players to accept mammoth wages in the Middle East.
N’Golo Kante has already joined Al-Ittihad on a free transfer from Chelsea with his deal worth a staggering £86million.
His former Blues team-mates Hakim Ziyech, Kalidou Koulibaly and Edouard Mendy all look set to follow suit.
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Wolves skipper Ruben Neves is closing in on a staggering £47m switch to Al-Hilal.
Bernardo Silva, Yerry Mina, Callum Hudson-Odoi and now even Liverpool hero Mo Salah have all been linked with transfers, too.
Should they make the switches, they would join Cristiano Ronaldo and Karim Benzema who are already with Al-Nassr and Al-Ittihad respectively.
And with Saudi representatives staying in a posh London hotel, they will be hoping to get more deals over the line.
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To make matters worse, sweating Premier League managers could be defenceless to prevent some of their star players leaving more than a month into the new campaign.
Fans and pundits alike have fumed over the Saudi spending and claim it is “ruining” football.
Gary Neville and Jamie Carragher went public with their views slamming the Saudi Pro League – which is backed by the Public Investment Fund that owns Newcastle and is a major investor in Chelsea owners Clearlake Capital.
Rival clubs accused Chelsea of using a “get out of Financial Fair Play jail free card” and called for a probe.
Todd Boehly’s £600million-plus spending in the transfer market in the 2022-23 season left the Blues staring down the barrel of major FFP breaches.
It has led to the club needing to make significant sales before June 30 to help balance the books and trim down the massive squad.
Meanwhile, reports suggest the Premier League wrote to the Stamford Bridge club for confirmation there are no Saudi Arabian links to the ownership.
Source: Soccer - thesun.co.uk
