Big-name players at Arsenal, Manchester City, Tottenham and Liverpool are among the Premier League superstars linked with a move away to the Saudi Pro League this summer.
The Saudi Arabian top flight continues making waves in the transfer market, having completed big-money deals to sign the likes of Jhon Duran, Galeno, Joao Cancelo and Moussa Diaby over the past 12 months.
There’s nothing to suggest that Saudi Pro League clubs are going to stop flexing their financial muscle when the transfer window opens again this summer.
Here are six Premier League stars who have been tipped to move to the Saudi Pro League in the summer 2025 window.
Darwin Nunez
“Liverpool’s Darwin Nunez was another target for Al Nassr but the Merseyside club have no intention of selling him at this stage in the window,” The Athletic’s transfer authority David Ornstein said back in January.
“There is expected to be a significant market for Nunez in the summer, if Liverpool choose to sell the 25-year-old.
“But he is viewed as an important part of Arne Slot’s squad as they compete for major honours in the second half of this season.”
Given Nunez’s struggles of late – just three goals in 18 appearances since Christmas – you wonder if Arne Slot doesn’t feel a sense of regret for not cashing in on the Uruguayan striker.
Al Nassr eventually landed on Jhon Duran and might not be in the market for another forward in the summer.
But other Saudi Pro League clubs continue to be linked, and it increasingly looks as though Liverpool will look to recoup their mammoth £85million on a signing that just hasn’t worked out after three seasons.
READ: 6 times football clubs turned down eye-watering transfer bids – & came to regret it
Luis Diaz
Nunez isn’t the only misfiring Liverpool forward linked with a move to the Saudi Pro League.
Diaz hasn’t signed an extension to the five-and-a-half-year contract he signed after joining from Porto back in January 2022.
After paying a hefty fee for his signature, it’s believed that the Colombian’s earnings are small potatoes in the wider context of Premier League wages – so you could understand why he’d be tempted to take home several times his current salary elsewhere.
Saudi Pro League clubs are said to be monitoring the situation.
“At the moment it is not something guaranteed, but it’s a concrete possibility,” Fabrizio Romano explained on his YouTube channel.
“There were some clubs from Saudi interested in Luis Diaz and he decided to continue with Liverpool to respect Liverpool.”
Will that remain the case in the summer? There’s talk Arne Slot wants to rebuild Liverpool’s entire attack before next season. Watch this space.
Kevin De Bruyne
Arguably the greatest midfielder in Premier League history, De Bruyne’s time in England looks to be coming to an end after 10 wildly successful years with Manchester City.
Saudi links have bubbled away in recent years, but the Belgian has stayed put at the Etihad. A contract extension at City doesn’t appear on the cards, we can’t see him at a Premier League rival, and his limited minutes this season suggest a move to another top European club is unlikely.
There’s every chance he moves to an MLS club as a free agent this summer, but you imagine he’ll have more lucrative offers from Saudi Arabia. In the past he’s spoken about how he’s open to a move to Saudi Arabia, where he’d be “able to earn an incredible amount of money” in the twilight years of his playing career.
“For Michele, an exotic adventure is OK. These are also conversations that we are increasingly having as a family,” De Bruyne told Belgian broadcaster VTM last summer.
“I still have one year of contract, so I have to think about what can happen.
“My eldest [child] is now eight years old and knows nothing but England. He also asks how long I will play at City. Once the time comes, we will have to deal with it in a certain way.
“At my age, you have to be open to everything. You talk about unbelievable amounts in what may be the end of my career. Sometimes you have to think about that.”
Son Heung-min
De Bruyne isn’t the only modern-day Premier League great that appears to be on the downslope.
Back in January, Tottenham exercised their option to extend their captain’s contract in North London to 2026. The 32-year-old won’t be a free agent this summer, but that doesn’t mean that a summer departure isn’t on the cards.
Son has scored well over a hundred Premier League goals for Spurs but he hasn’t been at his best amid their struggles in 2024-25 and the time might be right to wave goodbye as the club continue their youth-oriented rebuild.
The South Korea international admitted he turned down a move to an unnamed Saudi Pro League club back in 2023, so the interest is definitely there.
“If I wanted to go there, I would not be here!” he said at the time, having succeeded Harry Kane in taking on the captain’s armband that summer. Two years later he might’ve had a change of heart, especially with the prospect of one final lucrative contract dwindling at this stage in his career.
Ederson
Another key cog in Manchester City’s recent imperial era, the Brazilian thought seriously about moving to the Saudi Pro League last summer – only to be convinced by Guardiola to stay.
“There really was a proposal on the table, something that weighed heavily because it was an unusual proposal,” Ederson confirmed in an interview with TNT Sports Brasil.
“I had countless conversations with Guardiola, and one of them was essential. But from what he told me, the guarantees, the process and the evolution I had with him. All of that was essential for my staying at City.”
However, since then – like De Bruyne – he’s struggled with form and fitness in City’s shockingly disappointing 2024-25 campaign. He’s only 31 and remains contracted until 2026, so he may yet have a future at the elite European level.
Man City spend big in January and there are rumblings of further squad overhauls in the next transfer window. You imagine that Saudi Arabia remains a viable destination for Ederson and it would be no surprise if Guardiola lands a new No.1 in the summer, with Porto’s Diogo Costa believed to be the leading candidate.
Leandro Trossard
Footy Insider report that Trossard will once again be a “viable target” for Saudi Pro League clubs this summer.
The Belgian winger remained at Arsenal amid rumours of interest last year, but he’s approaching the final year of his contract and interest has not yet died down.
We’d be amazed if Arsenal don’t sign at least one forward this summer given their struggles in the final third this season. But with new faces there’s also expected to be departures.
” I think if Arsenal are going to commit huge expense on a striker, and if Zubimendi gets done, it’s surely inevitable there needs to be resource raised from a sale or multiple,” David Ornstein said in a recent Q+A on The Athletic.
“It wouldn’t shock me to see a notable player depart this summer but, at the time of writing, I don’t know who that might be.”
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