The Saudi Pro League kicks off on Thursday with spending on transfers down 77 per cent.
Saudi clubs made headlines last summer by spending more than £700 million on some of the most famous players in the world.
So, far this window they have spent a more modest £158m, with Moussa Diaby’s £50m move from Aston Villa to Al Ittihad the biggest deal in the league.
The biggest spenders have been Al Ittihad, under new head coach Laurent Blanc. They have spent £81m.
Al Qadsiah, who have been taken over by the Saudi state oil company Aramco, have spent £50m on players including former Arsenal forward Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang.
They are also close to completing a deal to sign Paulo Dybala from Roma.
SPL squad sizes have been reduced from 30 to 25 players. Each squad can include only 10 foreign players. There has been less money spend on foreign players because most of the slots have been used by signings from last summer.
The vast majority of players signed in 2023 appear to be happy and settled in the league. The most high-profile departure has been Jordan Henderson who left in January after failing to settle at Al Ettifaq.
Champions Al Hilal spent more than £300m last summer on players such as Neymar, Ruben Neves and Aleksander Mitrovic.
They also made Paris Saint-Germain a world-record £260m offer for Kylian Mbappe. So far this summer, Al Hilal have made a profit of £7m in the transfer market.
Their biggest signing last summer was Neymar but he missed almost the whole of the season with a serious knee injury. His recovery is going to plan and he is expected to return at the end of next month.
Al Hilal won last season’s title by finishing 14 points above Cristiano Ronaldo’s Al Nassr. They are interested in signing Manchester City defender Joao Cancelo.
Third placed Al Ahli are seeking to strengthen their squad with the signing of Ivan Toney from Brentford. The SPL window closes on 6 October.
