Saudi Arabia to cut football transfer spending to €350M, lowest since 2023

Saudi Arabia’s football spending binge is officially on a diet. The Saudi Pro League’s summer 2026 transfer window came in at roughly €350 million, a 26.3% drop from the previous year and the lowest total since the league kicked off its global recruitment blitz in 2023.

Where the money went

Al-Hilal, as usual, did most of the heavy lifting. The club spent €193 million on its own, accounting for roughly 42% of the entire league’s outlay. The bulk of that reportedly went toward three attacking players.

The rest of the league, however, was considerably more restrained. Average transfer fees dropped by about a third compared to 2023 levels, even as clubs actually completed more individual signings than in prior windows.

Player sales hit a record $105 million during the window. Saudi clubs aren’t just spending less on incoming talent — they’re also generating revenue by moving players out, something that barely registered as a line item during the league’s initial spending explosion.

The window closed around September 6-7, capping a transfer period that looked fundamentally different from the ones that preceded it.

From marquee names to strategic bets

Rewind to 2023 and 2024, and the Saudi Pro League was operating like a fantasy football team with an unlimited budget. Cristiano Ronaldo’s move to Al-Nassr in early 2023 opened the floodgates, and clubs followed by pursuing established stars from Europe’s top leagues.

The 2026 window suggests Saudi decision-makers have shifted away from that approach. The new strategy appears to center on younger, potentially undervalued players who can develop within the league.

Despite the spending reduction, the Saudi Pro League still ranked seventh globally in total transfer expenditure, trailing England, Italy, Spain, Germany, France, and Turkey.

What this shift actually means

The record player sales figure is particularly significant. It signals that Saudi clubs are beginning to function as genuine participants in the global transfer ecosystem, buying and selling players rather than serving purely as a one-way destination for talent.

For European clubs that had grown accustomed to Saudi Arabia as a reliable buyer willing to overpay, the recalibration could shift negotiating dynamics. Selling clubs may need to adjust their asking prices downward, or look elsewhere for the kind of premium fees that Saudi clubs once paid without blinking.

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