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Mohamed Salah #11 of Liverpool gestures during a Premier League match

Ranking the top 10 Premier League earners by their likelihood of joining Saudi Pro League

Ben Stewart •

The Saudi Pro League has been making waves in the transfer market this summer and by the looks of things, they aren’t planning on slowing down any time soon.

Superstars such as Cristiano Ronaldo and Karim Benzema have already been lured to the league with highly lucrative contracts and they have already started to handpick some of the Premier League’s top talents.

We’ve taken a closer look at the 10 biggest Premier League earners according to Capology and have ranked them by their likelihood of joining the Saudi Pro League at some stage.

10. Jack Grealish

The Man City playmaker would certainly bring plenty of eyeballs to football in Saudi Arabia, but can we realistically see a Brummie lad like Jack in Saudi? We’re not so sure.

He’s already being paid a handsome £300,000 per week at Man City and we’re not sure his end-of-season party antics would go down well in Saudi, given the strict alcohol laws. He’s probably best sticking around in the Premier League for now.

9. Marcus Rashford

While there has been a bit of flirting between Rashford and PSG over the years, he seems well-settled into life at Old Trafford now. Having recently penned a fresh deal until 2028 worth a whopping £300,000 per week, he’ll be sticking around in the Premier League for now.

There’s every chance that Rashford follows in the footsteps of Gary Neville and Paul Scholes by becoming a one-club man by the end of his career. A move to Saudi seems far-fetched for Rashford at this stage.

8. Erling Haaland

Considering we’ve just seen Kylian Mbappe snub a £1billion offer from Saudi, we can’t see Haaland joining the league any time soon. Like Mbappe, Haaland will have his eyes firmly set on the biggest prizes in football.

We’d dread to think just how many goals a player like Haaland would put up in the Saudi Pro League right now, but for the time being, this move seems like a no-go.

He’s already the second-highest earner in the Premier League with a weekly wage of £375,000 and he’ll surely be eyeing up a Ballon d’Or or two before even thinking about leaving Europe.

7. Jadon Sancho

It’s no secret that Sancho has struggled to live up to the hype at Old Trafford. The winger is being paid a handsome £350,000 weekly wage, but Man Utd haven’t got much in return.

While there have been some exit rumours surrounding Sancho, a move back to the Bundesliga seems more likely than a switch to the Saudi Pro League. He’s still only 23 years old and so has plenty of time to turn things around.

6. Raheem Sterling

This is where we start to drift into the realms of possibility. Sterling underwhelmed in his debut season with Chelsea and there have been some exit rumours floating around of late.

Earlier in the summer, Football Insider claimed the Chelsea winger was attracting interest from clubs in Europe, the UK and Saudi Arabia.

A lot of the speculation surrounding Sterling is probably paper-talk, although we wouldn’t completely rule out the £325,000-a-week winger from making the move at some stage.

5. Kevin De Bruyne

According to a recent report from The Mirror, the Belgian playmaker is wanted by the Saudi Pro League next summer. In an attempt to sign the biggest stars in the game, it’s no wonder they are targeting De Bruyne.

The Man City star is currently the highest-paid player in the Premier League, earning an estimated £400,000 per week. His contract at the Etihad expires in 2025 and so he will have to make a decision on his future soon enough.

It remains to be seen if a player like De Bruyne would be attracted to the riches of Saudi Arabia, but the league is certainly interested in signing him up.

4. Raphael Varane

Maybe not this summer, but give it a year or two and we wouldn’t be surprised to see Varane balling out in Saudi. The 30-year-old has been a solid addition at Old Trafford, but he has started to become more injury-prone of late.

His £340,000 per week contract expires in 2025 and we could see him bowing out of European football in a couple of years for one final payday.

Varane has spoken candidly of the toll that elite-level football has taken on his body and has already retired from international football. You can certainly imagine a gentler pace appealing to him.

3. Romelu Lukaku

The Chelsea forward has already snubbed interest from Saudi clubs this summer, but the interest to sign Lukaku up to the league is genuine.

He’s currently earning £325,000 per week at Stamford Bridge, although a move to Juventus now seems to be on the cards. Lukaku rarely sticks around in one place for too long though and we could definitely see him in the Saudi League in a year or two.

2. Mohamed Salah

Signing Liverpool’s Egyptian king would be a huge draw for the Saudi Pro League. Salah is one of the most influential Muslim footballers in the world and Saudi dealmakers have already hatched a plan to sign him next summer.

Hafez Al-Medlej, who has worked with the Saudi Pro League and the Asian Football Confederation, told Koura: “We must also start working on the signing of Mohamed Salah since he is overwhelmingly popular in the Arab world and in Europe.

“I think Salah still has records to break with Liverpool, so I hope that if he doesn’t come now he will in the future.”

Salah would find plenty of familiar faces in Saudi as his former teammates Jordan Henderson, Fabinho and Sadio Mane have already made the jump. Considering he is currently being paid £350,000 per week at Liverpool, we dread to think what Saudi clubs could offer.

1. Casemiro

Having already won pretty much everything at club level, Casemiro has a move to Saudi written all over him at some point.

Perhaps not while he is still at the peak of his powers, but a few years down the line, we could definitely see him playing out his final days alongside some of his former Real Madrid team-mates.

It would take a big offer, considering he is currently earning £350,000 per week at Old Trafford, but the Saudi Pro League aren’t exactly strapped for cash. Give it a year or two and we reckon they could tempt him over with a blockbuster offer.

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Casemiro Kevin De Bruyne Marcus Rashford Mohamed Salah Raheem Sterling Raphael Varane Romelu Lukaku Quick Reads