On Tuesday, Liverpool manager Jurgen Klopp urged football authorities to solve the Saudi Arabian league’s tardy transfer window noting that it would hurt European teams.
On the day of his team’s preseason matchup against German champions Bayern Munich in Singapore, Klopp expressed his worry in response to the report that Sadio Mane, a former Liverpool striker, is about to leave Bayern to sign with Saudi club Al Nassr.
A number of the top players in the world, including Cristiano Ronaldo, Karim Benzema, and N’Golo Kante, have been signed by teams in the oil-rich Middle Eastern nation since the year began.
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And Klopp seems concerned that clubs who wouldn’t be able to find acceptable replacements could be impacted by the Saudi transfer market closing on September 20, three weeks after it closes in Europe.
“The influence of Saudi Arabia? We will see. I don’t know.
“At the moment it looks like they have quite an influence, it is massive,” said the German.
“I think that pretty much the worst thing is that the transfer window in Saudi Arabia is open for three weeks longer.
“If I am right, I heard something like that. Then, at least in Europe, that’s not helpful.
“So UEFA and FIFA must find solutions for that.
“But in the end, I don’t know at this moment exactly what will happen. It is already influential, for us, for sure. We will have to learn to deal with it, but that’s what we do,” he added.
“That’s pretty much all I can say about it, time will show.”
When asked about the growing importance of Saudi football, Bayern Munich manager Thomas Tuchel compared it to the Chinese Super League, where clubs similarly spent extensively on importing football talent in the middle of the previous decade.
“I’m just observing the situation, which is a very new situation,” said the Bayern boss.
“It’s maybe a bit similar to the situation when China started their league.
“It’s kind of a similar gold rush there and we’re experiencing the next league which tries to become more popular, more famous and tries to build a brand by signing a lot of quality players and coaches,” he added.
“It’s a completely new situation and a bit too early for me to have a clear opinion.
“So I’m an observer, a surprised observer.”