On Monday, popular football journalist Ben Jacobs said that the Saudi Al Hilal would attempt to sign Mohamed Salah which means that the Riyadh-based club would compete against Al Ittihad, which was reportedly interested in signing Salah during the summer transfers.
In a thread on X, Jacobs posted the possible map of the upcoming winter transfers that could be done by the Saudi clubs, especially, the big 4 that are backed by the Public Investment Fund.
Expectation in Saudi is January will be a quiet with most clubs focused predominantly on the local market. £17bn allocated between now and 2030 on the Saudi Pro League, but budgets seasonal and most sides spent their allocation last summer. Some also have full foreign quotas.🇸🇦 pic.twitter.com/ZPaC6gmdON
— Ben Jacobs (@JacobsBen) January 2, 2024
Jacobs wrote: "Expectation in Saudi is January will be a quiet with most clubs focused predominantly on the local market. £17bn allocated between now and 2030 on the Saudi Pro League, but budgets seasonal and most sides spent their allocation last summer. Some also have full foreign quotas."
He added: "Mo Salah and Kevin De Bruyne are the two big summer targets, but there are other (and younger) names on the list. These still include João Félix, despite it clear he wants to stay at Barcelona. Low confidence anything can be done unless Barcelona can't find a way to keep him."
He continued: "Al-Ittihad still want another defender and Al-Hilal are contemplating options to cover or replace Neymar, depending on how his recovery goes.
Al-Hilal also expected to try for Mo Salah. He was on their wish list last summer 'ranked' behind Lionel Messi and Neymar, but Al-Ittihad given preference to try because they were the Club World Cup representative."
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