It's been very much the "Summer of Saudi" not just when it comes to football, but to sports in general -- from the LIV Golf/PGA merger to the acquisition of a stake in a major U.S. mixed martial arts (MMA) league last month. All summer long, until the Saudi transfer window shut on Sept. 7, we've been bombarded with talk of this star or that star "going to Saudi" for an eye-popping transfer fee, huge wages or, usually, both.
I've had executives at two different Champions League clubs predicting that the Saudi league would become one of the world's top three or four domestic competitions very soon.