On the night of September 2, the summer transfer window closed in the leading European championships. Clubs from Saudi Arabia have become the main player in the market for buying and selling football players, who have made a huge number of expensive acquisitions. But the European teams also staged some high-profile transitions. In addition, a new team was found by Lionel Messi. NEWS.ru — more about the main transfers of the past summer.

Neymar is the next superstar in Saudi Arabia
The 31-year-old Brazilian was acquired by Al-Hilal, who laid out about €90 million for PSG for the player. The contract was signed for two years. The striker has not yet made his debut for the new club, but he has already managed to mark himself with a powerful “rider”, which he rolled out to the team management. For the sake of the stars, they are ready for a lot.

According to Foot Mercato, the club went against the law for the arrival of the Brazilian. Neymar was allowed to live with his pregnant girlfriend Bruna Biancardi in a civil marriage, despite the corresponding ban, which is enshrined in the country's legislation. Also, the forward will be provided with a personal mansion with attendants and a private jet.

Messi could also be in Saudi Arabia, but chose MLS
The same Al-Hilal was ready to pay Messi a record salary, but the Argentinean decided to sign a contract with Inter Miami, owned by former England midfielder David Beckham. The forward joined the team as a free agent, and his salary is about $54 million a year.

Lionel Messi
Photo: Leco Viana/Keystone Press Agency/Global Look Press
Lionel Messi
Messi adapted brilliantly in Miami and from the first match he began to churn out goals and assists. He even managed to win the first trophy with Inter: his team won the League Cup. This title was the 44th in Messi's career, he broke the record of Dani Alves, who is now under investigation, who won 43 trophies.

More stars in Saudi Arabia
The current owner of the Golden Ball, Karim Benzema, decided that he had achieved everything in Europe, and at the end of his career he went to work in Saudi Arabia. The 35-year-old Frenchman did not renew his contract with Real Madrid and moved to Al-Ittihad, which will pay him about €27.5 million per season.

The decision to pursue a career in Saudi Arabia this summer was made not only by older stars, but also by high-value players in their prime. Al-Hilal bought 26-year-old Portugal defender Ruben Neves from Wolverhampton for €55 million, and paid €40 million for Serbian midfielder Sergei Milinkovic-Savic.

Another stellar rookie of the championship of Saudi Arabia was the world champion in the national team of France N'Golo Kante. The defensive midfielder turned down a contract extension with Chelsea and joined Al Ittihad. In the new team, he will receive a crazy salary in the region of €100 million. Mohamed Salah can still become Kante's teammate. Al Ittihad have all but reached an agreement with Liverpool on a move that could be completed before the Saudi transfer window closes on 7 September. According to Sky Sport, the Saudi club is ready to pay more than €200 million for the Egyptian.

Can any of the Russians go to Saudi Arabia
Football agent Alexei Safonov answered this question in an interview with NEWS.ru. He also spoke about the details of Cristiano Ronaldo's move to Al Nasr. The 38-year-old Portuguese was the first European superstar to leave for the Saudi Arabian Championship in January 2023.

“When Cristiano Ronaldo moved to Saudi Arabia, 189 countries bought the broadcast of their championship. They've also made hundreds of millions in merchandise sales. All invested money has long been repaid with a margin, now this championship is becoming popular all over the world. This is not just a thoughtless waste of money, smart businessmen work there,” Safonov said.

According to him, the only Russian who was offered a contract in Saudi Arabia is Konstantin Tyukavin. But the Dynamo forward refused a five-year agreement, as he wants to play in Europe.

“The priority for Saudi Arabian clubs is established big name stars like Ronaldo and Benzema to make big money from them and local players to grow up looking at them. They are ready to lay out 200 million for Salah. When such players play next to you, anyone will start adding. Therefore, I don’t think that any of the Russians will go there this off-season, the Saudis have other priorities,” Safonov added.

Three high-profile transitions took place with the participation of England players
The young star of the English national team, Jude Bellingham, has switched from Borussia Dortmund to Real Madrid. The Spanish club paid €103 million for the 20-year-old attacking midfielder, and he has already begun to recoup these costs. In three matches of the championship of Spain, the midfielder scored four goals, made an assist and was recognized as the best football player of Real Madrid in August.

Jude Bellingham
Photo: Irina R. Hipolito/Keystone Press Agency/Global Look Press
Jude Bellingham
Bellingham's senior England attacking partner Harry Kane has made a major career change at the age of 30. The forward, who became a Tottenham legend, moved to Germany. Bayern Munich paid exactly €100 million for him. The forward also started very decently in the new team. He has three goals and one assist in two Bundesliga matches.

English defensive midfielder Declan Rice did not leave not only his native country, but also the city. The captain of London's West Ham decided to go for a promotion and join Arsenal, which fought for the title last season. The Gunners shelled out €116m for the midfielder, a record for domestic transfers in England.

According to some British media, this record was broken by Chelsea, who acquired Ecuadorian midfielder Moyes Caicedo from Brighton. However , the authoritative portal Transfermarkt insists that the same €116 million were paid for the Latin American.

Several RPL players moved to European championships
First of all, we are talking about Arsen Zakharyan, who left for Europe on the second attempt. In winter, Dynamo agreed with Chelsea, but the transfer fell through due to British sanctions, which prevented the British from paying off the Russians. In the summer, the talented midfielder of the Russian national team was able to acquire the Spanish Real Sociedad. The club from San Sebastian laid out €12 million plus bonuses for the Russian. Zakharyan has already managed to make his debut for a new team in the Spanish Championship, having played at the end of the match with Las Palmas (0:0).

Arsen Zakharyan
Photo: Daisuke Nakashima/AFLO/Global Look Press
Arsen Zakharyan
Following Zakharyan, another Dynamo footballer went to Europe - defender Saba Sazonov. The 21-year-old football player signed a four-year contract with Italian Torino, Muscovites received €2.75 million for the player. A native of St. Petersburg, Sazonov changed his sports citizenship to Georgian and has already played two matches for the national team of this country.

Spartak forward Keita Balde also went to Europe. The Senegalese, who is not part of the Moscow club, will play for Espanyol on loan.

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