The Saudi Professional League: What is it and which stars are joining it?

Image source, Reuters

Image caption, Ronaldo made the move to Al-Nassr at the end of last year

There's been a flurry of well-known football stars making the move from Premier League teams to the Saudi Professional League.

Cristiano Ronaldo made the move from Manchester United at the end of 2022.

And since then, it seems like everyone wants a piece of the action.

So what is the Saudi Pro League and why are footballers transferring to it?

What is the Saudi Pro League

Image source, Getty Images

Image caption, N'Golo Kante, Karim Benzema and Roberto Firmino are moving to Saudi clubs

There are 18 clubs in the Saudi Professional League (SPL) which is based in Saudi Arabia in the Middle East.

The season usually runs from August to May and each club plays each other twice, earning three points for a win and one point for a draw.

The top four teams with the most points then qualify for the AFC (Asian Football Confederation) Champions League.

The "Big Four" clubs are Al-Nassr, Al-Hilal, Al-Ittihad and Al-Ahli, "al" means "the" in Arabic, which is widely spoken in the Middle East.

Who is playing in the Saudi Pro League

Image source, Getty Images

Image caption, Edouard Mendy and Riyad Mahrez have been linked to the Saudi Pro League that Cristiano Ronaldo joined

Big name footballers making the move from the UK to the Saudi Pro League in recent weeks include Roberto Firmino and Edouard Mendy, who left the Premier League to become Al-Ahli players, and Manchester City's Riyad Mahrez is set to join them.

Other talents like N'Golo Kante, Karim Benzema and Diogo Jota have joined champions Al-Ittihad to work with coach Nuno Espirito Santo.

Liverpool's Jordan Henderson is the latest name to be rumoured to be making the move to the Middle East.

Former Rangers and Aston Villa boss Steven Gerrard fancies a change too and will manage Al-Ettifaq - the club Henderson is likely to be joining.

Why are footballers transferring to the Saudi Pro League?

Image source, Getty Images

Image caption, Saudi Arabia's main source of money comes from selling oil to other countries

The Kingdom of Saudi Arabia has recently pumped lots of money into the Professional League along with other sports like golf and boxing.

Some human rights campaigners, who are critical of Saudi Arabia's restrictions on women's freedoms for example, have accused it of sportswashing.

Sportswashing refers to when a country or organisation uses sport to help improve its international reputation, but Saudi leaders deny this and say the investment is to help modernise the kingdom and make it less reliant on fossil fuels like oil.

Currently the country's main source of income is from selling oil to other nations and it is trying to improve its economy by diversifying into industries like sport and entertainment.

Whatever the reason, the extra cash in sport means teams can offer high-profile players a lot more money to tempt them over.