Chelsea Trio To Move To Saudi Arabia
Hakim Ziyech, Édouard Mendy and Kalidou Koulibaly are all set to move from Chelsea to Saudi Arabia.
Chelsea is looking to offload many of their current players to reduce their wage bill and to provide funding for more signings this summer. As the exodus of current players begins, Saudi Arabia is providing the perfect landing spot for some of the club’s outcasts.
Hakim Ziyech
The 30-year-old Moroccan has reportedly agreed terms to a lucrative three-year contract with Saudi Pro League side Al-Nassr. The Saudi club will pay around an £8 million transfer fee to secure Ziyech’s services.
After moving to Chelsea in 2020, Ziyech struggled to find the form he once had with Ajax in the Eredivisie. Although he was part of the 2021 Champions League-winning squad, he struggled to truly establish himself at the west London club.
This past season, he made only 24 appearances for the Blues, most of which were from the bench. With his lack of playing time, a move from London looked inevitable for Ziyech.
It was looking like he would join PSG on loan last January. However, the deal collapsed at the last minute, leaving Ziyech stuck in England for the remainder of the season.
Now, he will leave Chelsea after three years with the club and team up with Cristiano Ronaldo at Al-Nassr next season.
Édouard Mendy
The Senegalese goalkeeper looks set to join Saudi Pro League club Al-Ahli, according to Fabrizio Romano. He has already agreed personal terms with the club and will sign a contract that runs through 2026. There is no news of the fee Al-Ahli will pay Chelsea for Mendy, but the two clubs have apparently reached an agreement.
Mendy joined Chelsea in 2020 from Rennes in France. Although he had a superb first season at the club and was Chelsea’s clear No. 1, he lost his starting spot to Kepa Arrizabalaga this season.
He turned down a contract renewal with Chelsea in December after the Blues offered him far less money than what Kepa was making.
Kalidou Koulibaly
Chelsea has reached an agreement with Saudi Pro League club Al-Hilal to sell Kalidou Koulibaly for around €25 million. Koulibaly has agreed personal terms with the club on a three-year contract and is set to join his former Chelsea teammates in Saudi Arabia.
Koulibaly only spent one season with Chelsea, moving from Napoli for a fee of €40 million last summer. He was never able to fully settle in London, making only 23 league appearances for the club last season. Poor form has convinced Mauricio Pochettino and the Chelsea higher ups to look for alternatives to the 32-year-old center back and the Blues are ready to be done with him after just one year at the club.
Controversy
The Chelsea trio also join Chelsea legend N’Golo Kanté in Saudi Arabia. Kanté left Chelsea on a free transfer and signed with league champions Al-Ittihad earlier this month on a two-year deal worth €100 million a year.
This makes it four Chelsea players to sign with Saudi Arabian clubs in quick succession. This caused a certain level of anxiety around the Premier League that the Saudi Arabian Public Investment Fund (PIF) was involved with the purchase of the club last year.
The club has since provided evidence that the PIF was not involved with the purchase, which has appeased the Premier League bosses who had concerns.
Still, four players in the span of a month is rather remarkable. However, it appears to just be part of the Saudi Professional League’s efforts to become one of the world’s most elite leagues.
The league has also managed to sign Karim Benzema from Real Madrid and Rúben Neves from Wolves this summer.
With all of these signings, the league is certain to grow in quality and popularity next season.
Who knows, maybe if they keep this up, Ronaldo’s claims that the Saudi Pro League could become a top-five league might actually come true.
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