The stunning torpedoing of the European Super League was a huge pat on the back for everyone in football.

The 2021 initiative, which involved the two Manchester clubs as well as Arsenal, Liverpool, Chelsea, and Spurs, had the potential to destroy the Premier League.

The world’s most powerful football beast in terms of finances, however, remained English football after it was abandoned.

However, no one anticipated Saudi Arabia.

It has been 20 years since Roman Abramovich used the proceeds from the sale of Chelsea to revolutionize American football.

Up until Manchester City received funding from Abu Dhabi in 2008, Chelsea had the title as the most wealthy club in this country.

However, the astonishing rise of the Saudi Pro League may have a more significant effect on all of our clubs.

The issue is that nobody knows how many big talents the division plans to scoop up.

The transfer of Cristiano Ronaldo from Manchester United to Al-Nasr in December, where he received a salary of £170 million annually, seemed to be some flashy posturing.

Instead, it turned out to be the first in a string of events that changed the game before 2023.

A game-changer in terms of a transfer fee is Saudi club Al-Hilal’s £259 million world-record offer for Paris Saint-Germain star Kylian Mbappe.

Likewise are his yearly earnings of £605 million.

Another game-changer is the £15 million contract Steven Gerrard, the former manager of Aston Villa, signed with Al-Ettifaq. Gerrard is unlikely to be hired soon by another Premier League club.

The standard was upped as a result, and Al-Ahli received an offer of £40 million over two years for Fulham’s Marco Silva.

The second-tier salaries in Saudi Arabia have undergone another radical change.At Al-Qadsiah, boss Robbie Fowler earns a salary of over £500,000 annually.

Coaches in the EFL are currently considering relocating to the Gulf.

Another game-changer is a player like N’Golo Kante, whose annual salary is £86 million.

Although he is a talented midfielder, the Frenchman has always acknowledged that he leads a simple existence, as evidenced by the fact that he once drove a Mini to Chelsea’s training facility.

The fact that his agent was able to enhance the player’s yearly salary to such a staggering amount due to the player’s “image rights” was therefore not only reprehensible, but it has also raised the prospective profits of other football players who may not have the most prominent profiles.

Furthermore, if current internationals leave for the Kingdom, the game would be further upended. For instance, England’s Jordan Henderson may decide to join Steven Gerrard at Al-Ettifaq.

Amazingly, the contentious 2021 acquisition of Newcastle by the investment arm of the Saudi Arabian government has turned out to be simply a sideshow to what is currently taking place inside the nation.

From April 2021, when we were concerned about the ESL, this all seems like a lifetime ago.

Around that time, Covid’s effects have also severely hurt football’s financial situation.

We even discussed how the sport’s exorbitant pay and transfer fees may finally undergo a much-needed reset.

At the time, players in the Premier League and others in Europe had to accept pay reductions.

The same stars can now increase their wage demands by a few zeros while thinking about moving to the desert.

The Saudi proposal and the Chinese Super League are obvious similarities, but this project is based on far more solid ground.

The country’s human rights record is a disgrace, and the suspicions of sportswashing are understandable.

In terms of sports, Saudi Arabia, a kingdom of 37 million people where football is the official sport, should not be mistaken with neighboring Qatar, a small state of under three million people where the majority of expats choose cricket.

The Pro League has seen an increase in attendance since Ronaldo moved to Saudi Arabia, however it is still only about 10,000 each game.

Kante and Karim Benzema relocated to Jeddah-based champions Al-Ittihad, which draws crowds of about 40,000.

A further objective of the administration is to see more women and girls participating in football on social media.

There are several uncertainties regarding the Saudi Pro League’s future course and rate of development at the moment.