Liverpool manager Jurgen Klopp on Tuesday urged football authorities to address the late closure of the transfer window in the Saudi Arabia league, fearing it may have a detrimental effect on European clubs.
Speaking in Singapore on the eve of his team’s pre-season friendly against German champions Bayern Munich, Klopp voiced his concern while reacting to the news that former Liverpool striker Sadio Mane is set to leave Bayern to join Saudi side Al Nassr.
Since the start of the year, clubs in the oil-rich Middle Eastern kingdom have spent generously to sign some of the world’s leading players including Cristiano Ronaldo, Karim Benzema and N’Golo Kante.
Brazilian midfielder Fabinho on Monday became the third Liverpool player to move to a Saudi club in this close season when he joined Al-Ittihad in a £40 million ($51 million) deal, hot on the heels of Jordan Henderson and Roberto Firmino.
Klopp appears concerned that the closure of the Saudi transfer window on September 20, three weeks after it shuts in Europe, could impact clubs who would be unable to sign suitable replacements.
“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.”
Bayern Munich manager Thomas Tuchel was also asked about the rising influence of Saudi football and he likened it to the Chinese Super League where clubs also spent heavily on importing footballing talent in the middle of the last 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.”
