'We can make you millions' - How Saudi Pro League clubs convinced the likes of Karim Benzema and Neymar to sign by offering 'sums so enormous that they didn’t make sense'
Saudi Pro League clubs reportedly convinced the likes of Karim Benzema and Neymar by offering «sums so enormous that they didn't make sense.»
WHAT HAPPENED? French striker Benzema is understood to be earning a staggering €200 million (£172m/$213m) per season after joining Saudi Arabian champions Al-Ittihad on a free transfer. Whereas, 31-year-old Brazilian Neymar is expected to receive around £276 million ($351m) for his two-year stint with Al-Hilal. The numbers were unheard of even a year back.
According to The Athletic, it would all start with an anonymous phone call to a player's agent with someone from Saudi Arabia promising, «We can make you millions.” Not a single detail about any club or the sporting „project“ as Jordan Henderson would say.
Even if the agent asked for written confirmation they never came but the calls were persistent in the efforts to make the move to Saudi along with an assurance of 'money and sums so enormous that they didn’t seem to make sense.' However, some of the approaches were indeed made through formal channels but the message remained the same. But there was no scope for negotiations and the offer that was made was final.
THE BIGGER PICTURE: It is reported that the Saudi delegations would set up camps in top European cities like London, Paris and Madrid from where the next stage of negotiations would continue. The Hyatt Regency Hotel on Portman Square was allegedly the London hub, with another at InterContinental on Park Lane and a third at a boutique hotel in Mayfair. In Madrid, Benzema signed his deal at the Four Seasons hotel whereas Marcelo Brozovic chose Shangri-La in Paris to be his spot.
There would be lengthy Zoom calls with players and agents one after the other and the only string
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