Al Hilal are looking to maintain their achievement of winning the Saudi Professional Football League title without suffering any defeat at the start of the new season, while Cristiano Ronaldo is targeting his first title with Al Nassr, while Al Ittihad is looking to return to competition, after strong reinforcements to its ranks following disappointment last season.
The new season kicks off today, without the summer transfer market witnessing huge contracts like what happened last season, after Saudi Arabia was the destination of many players, most notably former Real Madrid striker, Frenchman Karim Benzema, winner of the Golden Ball, his compatriot N’Golo Kante, Chelsea midfielder, Brazilian Neymar, and Senegalese Sadio Mane, the best player in Africa twice.
Although Al Hilal has not signed any player yet, awaiting Neymar’s return from a long injury, coach Jorge Jesus is counting on repeating what he achieved last season in order to motivate his players and win the title for the 20th time.
Al Hilal got a strong boost after starting the season by winning the Saudi Super Cup against Al Nassr, after beating the team of star Ronaldo (4-1) in the final, after beating Al Ahli in the semi-final on penalties.
Al Hilal’s path will not be paved with roses as Ronaldo looks to win the league title for the first time, after a season and a half without any title in Saudi Arabia. He is also looking to bring victory back to the celebrations for the first time since the 2018-2019 season. The Portuguese star wants to add the title to the league titles he has won in England, Spain and Italy.
Al-Nassr was satisfied with contracting goalkeeper Pinto, while recovering striker Talisca, after he suffered an injury that kept him out since February before returning to participate in the two local Super Cup matches.
Al-Ittihad prepares…and Al-Qadisiyah looks for a surprise
Al-Ittihad was the most active among the top clubs in the Saudi League during the transfer period, and after finishing fifth in the standings last season, missing out on participating in the Asian championships next season; It contracted with the French Moussa Diaby, the Algerian Houssem Aouar, the Serbian goalkeeper Predrag Rajkovic and Saleh Al-Shehri, in addition to the two talents Ahmed Al-Ghamdi from Al-Ettifaq, and Moaz Al-Faqehi from Al-Hilal, hoping to wake up after it was unable to maintain its title that it achieved in the 2022-2023 season.
The club parted ways with coach Marcelo Gallardo, who replaced Nuno Espirito Santo in November, and hired former France coach Laurent Blanc, who had previously had experience in the Middle East with Qatari club Al Rayyan.
On the other side of Jeddah, Al-Ahly settled for signing the promising Brazilian Alexandre from Fluminense, and dispensed with Allan Saint-Maximin, who moved on loan to Fenerbahce in Turkey, to join the team of coach Jose Mourinho.
Al-Qadisiyah does not intend to pass the league by unnoticed, after the club made major deals, most notably defender Nacho Fernandez, captain of Real Madrid, Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang, former Barcelona and Arsenal striker, and Koen Casteels, goalkeeper of Belgium, under the leadership of Spanish coach Michel.
., and the latest political and economic developments via Google News
