Top 20 - Which clubs have earned the most from selling players to the Saudi Pro League?

When it comes to the leagues with the most spending power in the modern game, the Saudi Pro League continues to grow in strength and influence with every passing season. Since the league undertook an audacious approach to buying up some of the biggest names in European football a few years ago, some of the biggest names in the sport have swapped Europe’s biggest and most prestigious divisions for new adventures in the Middle East. Whether that be household names like Cristiano Ronaldo and Neymar or big talents in their prime like Jhon Durán or Fabinho, Saudi clubs have rarely hesitated to get the cheque book out in each and every transfer window. And all the way, European clubs have profited remarkably well. 

Over the course of the last five seasons (including the new 25/26 season) the Saudi Pro League has spent no less than €1.86 billion on signing new players to its squads. And when we tally up every transfer in that period of time - while excluding loan deals and free transfers such as Ronaldo's move to Al-Nassr - to see which clubs have earned the most money from this new Saudi shopping spree phenomenon, we get a very interesting list of clubs from around Europe’s top five leagues. 

As we can see in the graph above, there are a wide array of clubs that have profited the most from Saudi money in the last five seasons but the largest grouping of clubs certainly comes from the United Kingdom. There are no less than eight Premier League clubs in the top 20, with Scottish Premiership champions Celtic also featuring in 18th place. In stark contrast, there are just three  Ligue 1 clubs, two clubs form Serie A, two from Portugal and one each from the Bundesliga and LaLiga. 

When we narrow in on the top 10, we can see that some of England’s biggest clubs have sold a number of players to Saudi Pro League sides, with Liverpool (€60.7m in transfer income), Chelsea (€64.5m) and Manchester City (€87.5m) all featuring high on the list. However, rather curiously, they’re joined by Fulham in ninth place and Wolves in seventh, who made some big-name sales to Saudi clubs in the recent past, such as Al Hilal signing both Aleksandar Mitrović moving for €52.6m and Rúben Neves for €55m. Brentford, who sold Ivan Toney to Al-Ahli for €42m last summer, sit just outside the top 10 in 11th place. 

However, the club that have earned the most from Saudi spending in the last five seasons is none other than Aston Villa. Having sold Moussa Diaby to Al-Ittihad for €60m last summer and then Jhon Durán to Al-Nassr in the January window for €77m, the Villans have earned an impressive €137m from the Saudi Pro League. That puts them above Paris Saint-Germain in third place and Porto in second place, who have earned €103m and €110m respectively from Saudi sales.