And the Montenegrin representative Stefan Savic he could join the colony of experienced, footballing names that swapped European football for Asian football this summer - in the direction of Saudi Arabia.
According to the Spanish media, Al Shabaab, a club from the capital city of Riyadh, is interested in the 32-year-old Savić. Savić has been with Atletik for eight years, he has one more contract left - maybe the right time to leave, provided of course that he is attracted to the Saudi Pro League and new duels against Cristiano Ronaldo i Karim Benzema, with whom he "warred" for a long time on the Madrid, Spanish and European stage.
Due to rumors that one of the best Montenegrin footballers could go to Saudi Arabia, we bring you a list of all the footballers who went there this summer from Europe. Club by club...
The Saudis have the "big four" - clubs that have relied on the state fund from which they draw unlimited funds (Al-Ittihad, Al Nasr, Al Hilal, and Al Ahli), but the other 14 also bring big names.
ABHA: The club from the town of the same name played in the third division just five years ago. He never won a trophy. The coach is Czeslaw Michniewicz, who led the Poles at the recent World Cup, and the biggest name is the forward from Ecuador, 34-year-old Felipe Caisedo, who wore the Manchester City jersey 14 seasons ago.
AL AHLI: Three-time champion, runner-up, giant from Jeddah, brought in some big names, but still looking for a coach. The biggest reinforcements are Riyad Mahrez, who arrived from City for 36 million euros, and Liverpool's Roberto Firmino. Alan Saint-Maximin arrived from Newcastle, as did the former Chelsea goalkeeper Edward Mandy. The "Kings" did not only take from the English Premier League, so the recent Lazio defender also arrived. Bastos.
AL ETIFAK: The biggest reinforcement is the trainer - legendary Steven Gerrard who brought Jordan Henderson with him from Liverpool. Jack Hendry arrived from Club Brugge, and Amin Younes, who wore the jersey of Germany eight times, from the Dutch Utrecht. Etifak has been waiting for the trophy since 1980.
AL FATEH: They won their only title in 2013, and now they are led by a Croatian from the bench Slaven Bilic. The most famous player is the former Barcelona winger Christian Tello, there is another Spaniard, Fran Velez, and the left back from Monaco has also arrived Tristan Dingom.
AL FAIHA: On the bench of the team that was the champion in 2017 is a former Yugoslav national team player Vuk Rasovic, the son of a former soccer player from Budućnosti Branko Rašović. His assistant is a Montenegrin coach Rudolf-Roki Marčić, the former head of Petrovac and Mornar, who has been working in Saudi Arabia for three years. At the "Al Majma" stadium, which, with a capacity of seven thousand seats, is the smallest in the league, two football players from Serbia also play: the goalkeeper Vladimir Stojkovic and attacker Milan Pavkov. There is also Macedonian Aleksandar Trajkovski, whose goal in the playoffs eliminated the Italians from the World Cup.
AL HAZEM: This team has just entered the Pro League and is one of only a few without big names. The coach is Portuguese Philip Gouvei, and the most famous player is the Tunisian goalkeeper Aymen Damen.
AL HILAL: The most trophy-winning Asian club - has four Champions Leagues and 18 national titles. He's a coach George Jesus, who led Benfica, and the reinforcements that guarantee the fight for trophies are Ruben Neves (arrived from Wolverhampton), Kalidou Coulibaly (Chelsea), Sergej Milinkovic Savic (Lazio), as well as the former striker of Porto Musa Marega and ex-player VBA Mateus pereira.
AL ITHIHAD: The oldest club from Saudi Arabia, founded in 1927, and when they meet Al Hilal, they play the "Saudi El Clasico". The current bench champion has Nun Espirita Santa, and on the field Karim Benzema, N'Golo Kante and former Celtic striker Zota. And that's not all - he completed the transfer two days ago Fabinho from Liverpool.
AL NASR: Suffice it to say Cristiano Ronaldo - the first "star" name to move to N. Arabia, back in January. He scored 14 goals in the second part of last season, and now he has with him Marcel Brozović (arrived from Inter), Aleks Telješ (Manchester United), Seka Fofana (Lens). The Portuguese is on the bench Luis Castro, who succeeded Rudi Garcia, and on the field, the former goalkeeper of Arsenal David Ospina, former Argentine national team player Gonzalo Martinez, former Benfica forward Taliska...
AL OKHDOD: Five years ago he was in the third division. There are no famous names, the coach is Jorge Mendonca, and the Brazilian veteran in goal Paulo Vitor arrived from Chavez, Mexico.
AL RAED: Another "smaller" Saudi pro-leaguer, and the coach is a well-known name - a Croat, originally from Cetinje Igor Jovicevic, who arrived from Shakhtar Donetsk. Brazilian defender Pablo Santos played in Portugal, Russia and Turkey.
AL RIYADH: The best season in history was 1993/94, when this club was runner-up and won the Prince's Cup. This summer they entered the league and appointed a coach Jenika Ferrer, a Belgian. Goalkeeper Martin Campaign has worn the Uruguay jersey nine times.
AL SHABAB: Six-time Saudi champion, still looking for a coach. Who would Stefan Savić play with in the team, if he comes - there are the Argentines Ever Banega, the Colombian Gustavo Cueljar and the representative goalkeeper of South Korea Kim Seung Gyu.
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matches played by Stefan Savić in the Spanish La Liga in the past eight seasons and dozens more in the Champions League, the Europa League and the King's Cup. He arrived in 2015 from Fiorentina for 10 million euros, signing a five-year contract, which was later extended until 2024. He became a legend of the club, with which he won the title of Spanish champion in 2021 and the Europa League in 2018. Savić is in the jersey " kolćoneros" scored three goals
AL TAWUN: The 2019 Cup winner aims for survival. The coach is Brazilian Pericles Kamuska, for whom this is the 30th coaching job in his career, even though he is "only" 57 years old. The most famous name is the Spaniard Alvaro Medran, who made six appearances for Real Madrid in the 2015/2016 season.
AL TAI: A club without a trophy, the Croatian Krešimir Režić is on the bench. On the field, the most famous name is Alfa Semedo, the representative of Guinea-Bissau, who played for Reading and Nottingham Forest.
AL VEHD: Founded 88 years ago, waiting for the trophy since 1966. The team is led by a Greek Georgios Donis. The most famous name is Costa Rican Oscar Duarte, who scored a goal for Uruguay at the 2014 World Cup. Midfielder Faisal Fajr and goalkeeper Munir Mohammadi were part of the Moroccan team at the WC 2018.
DAMASCUS: Former Romanian coach Cosmin Kontra, a former AC Milan and Atletico Madrid defender, took over the team at the beginning of the year. Croat Domagoj Antolić has six appearances for the national team, there is also Adam Maher, the Dutchman.
KALEI: They barely survived last season. Argentine veteran Lisandro Lopez is the biggest star, a Fabio Martins he leads a group of four young Portuguese in the team. And the coach is from Portugal - Peter Emanuel.
Klopp calls on FIFA and UEFA to react
Liverpool coach Jurgen Klopp expressed his concern about the harmful consequences of the players going to Saudi Arabia and called on the football authorities to "find a solution".
Klopp is in Singapore, where his team is playing a friendly match with Bayern today, and he stated that the influence of Saudi Arabia is "massive" at the moment.
"The worst thing is that the transfer window in Saudi Arabia lasts three weeks longer than in Europe. Fifa and Uefa have to find a solution for that," said Klopp.
On Monday, Brazilian midfielder Fabinho became the third Reds player to move to Saudi Arabia this summer, after Jordan Henderson and Roberto Firmino.
"It certainly has an impact on us. We have to learn to manage it," added Klopp.
Bayern coach Thomas Tuchel compared the Saudi league to what happened in China ten years ago.
"It is a little too early for a clear opinion," said Tuhel, defining himself as a "surprised observer" of the current situation.
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