Starting with Cristiano Ronaldo in 2022, we have seen several European players heading to Saudi Arabia for the next steps of their careers. This mostly consists of players who are at the end of their careers at the top level in Europe but still have some legs under them to play in a less competitive league.
A number of top European clubs have lost players to the Saudi Pro League, and Real Madrid are among those clubs. Players like Karim Benzema, Nacho, and Joselu have all departed the club for the venture to the Middle East after achieving incredible amounts of success with Los Blancos.
With the arrival of Xabi Alonso this summer, we've seen a shift in the philosophy of the club. We're seeing a number of veteran players departing the club as they build a younger squad to lead the next generation of Real Madrid into the future.
Real Madrid have two players on expiring contracts heading into next summer, both of which the club are expected to part ways with, those being David Alaba and Antonio Rüdiger. Where their future lays away from Real Madrid remains unknown, however, one of them could make the popular journey to Saudi Arabia.
David Alaba isn’t the only center back who could leave Real Madrid next summer
As being reported by Fabrizio Romano via his YouTube channel, Saudi Pro League is in love with Antonio Rüdiger and are eyeing a move for the defender once contract at Real Madrid expires next month.
Rüdiger has been a loyal servant to Real Madrid since his arrival as a free agent in the summer of 2022; however, the club is not expected to offer him a contract renewal, signalling the end of his time at the club once his contract expires next summer.
He'll be 33 years old once his contract expires and will surely have a number of suitors once he hits the market; however, one is sticking out more than others, and it is none other than Saudi Arabia. Which team he could ultimately end up at remains unknown, however it is expected that all the big Saudi sides will show interest in signing the central defender.
Real Madrid were handed a major blow last week after it was announced that Rüdiger will be out for up to three months after suffering an injury in training. With this being Rudiger's final season with the club, it's somewhat of a bummer that it could be plagued by injuries.