The 2023 summer transfer window will go down in history as one of the craziest of all time because of one reason - the Saudi Pro League.
What felt like a passing fad when Cristiano Ronaldo joined in December became a monumental threat to the rest of Europe as Saudi Arabia began throwing the cash left, right and centre with a view to becoming a genuine powerhouse. Think 2010s Chinese Super League on the most aggressive steroids imaginable.
With the transfer window now shut and Jurgen Klopp wiping the final bead of sweat from his brow, here's a look at how each of the 18 Saudi Pro League teams fared this summer.
18. Al Hazem
Notable signings: Faiz Selemani (£1.3m), Toze (free), Mohamed Badamosi (loan), Bruno Viana (loan), Vina (loan)
Victims of the new-found high standard, Al Hazem fall short with their modest spend.
This is actually a pretty good window for a Saudi team. Well, it would have been last year.
17. Al Raed
Notable signings: Mathias Normann (free), Andre Moreira (free), Oumar Gonzalez (undisclosed)
There's some nice quality here with Normann and Gonzalez, but again, Al Raed have been completely left behind.
This could be a tough year for Igor Jovicevic's side.
16. Al Khaleej
Notable signings: Khaled Narey (£2m), Mohamed Sherif (£1m), Lisandro Lopez (free)
Narey will do well in this league and Sherif will expect to be in the top scorers race.
It's not glamorous, but it's effective.
15. Al Okhdood
Notable signings: Andrei Burca (£1m), Florin Tanase (free), Alex Collado (loan)
Getting Collado on loan is a pretty big statement from Al Okhdood, who will hope the former Barcelona youngster can fire them up the table.
Burca and Tanase will instantly come in and become their best players, and you can't argue with results like that.
14. Al Tai
Notable signings: Marko Dugandzic (£2m), Andrei Cordea (£1m), Virgil Misidjan (free), Bernard Mensah (free)
Al Tai haven't spent a lot of money but have been pretty smart with their business.
Misidjan bagged eight goals and four assists in the Eredivisie last season and that sort of pedigree should produce results in Saudi Arabia.
13. Al Riyadh
Notable signings: Birama Toure (free), Didier Ndong (free), Martin Campana (free), Knowledge Musona (undisclosed), Juanmi (loan), Alin Tosca (loan)
Without much money to spend, Al Riyadh have been smart. They've brought in a number of players with solid experience at the highest level.
Standing out from the bunch is the loan signing of winger Juanmi from Real Betis. He's not a superstar name but the 30-year-old is still a real coup.
12. Damac
Notable signings: Assan Ceesay (£2m), Nicolae Stanciu (£2m), Georges-Kevin N'Koudou (free)
Gambian skyscraper Ceesay was solid in Serie A last year and Stanciu, who actually joined Al Ahli for around £8m in 2019, has proven pedigree in this league.
The addition of N'Koudou on a free should make for some added excitement.
11. Al Wehda
Notable signings: Jawad El Yamiq (£1m), Odion Ighalo (free)
It doesn't sound like a whole lot of fun on paper but, in Ighalo, Al Wehda have actually brought in last season's third-highest scorer in the Saudi league, on a free transfer no less.
With superstar names all at risk of failing to adapt to the league, Ighalo brings proven quality on these shores.
10. Al Fayha
Notable signings: Fashion Sakala (£4m), Henry Onyekuru (£3m), Ghislain Konan (loan)
With a little bit of money to spend, Al Fayha chose to invest in two players with solid European experience in Sakala and Onyekuru.
Both will immediately improve their team significantly, which is all you need for a £7m spend.
9. Al Fateh
Notable signings: Lucas Zelarayan (£2m), Jason Denayer (free), Djaniny (loan)
Another team who haven't spent a lot of money, Al Fateh have been really smart with their business.
Zelarayan was one of Major League Soccer's top names last year and Denayer, who is still somehow only 28 years old, should quickly emerge as one of this league's best defenders.
8. Abha
Notable signings: Karl Toko Ekambi (£1m), Grzegorz Krychowiak (free), Francois Kamano (free), Ciprian Tatarusanu (free)
That's a really good window for a team in the early stages of trying to become a threat.
Four players with plenty of experience across major European leagues will make Abha a danger to most teams in this division.
7. Al Taawoun
Notable signings: Musa Barrow (£7m), Andrei Girotto (£3m), Mateus (£2m)
Now the money is starting to come. Al Taawoun don't have the Public Investment Fund backing them but they still splashed out over £10m to lure over some European talent.
Barrow is only 24 years old but has shone in Serie A over the past few years, racking up over 30 goals and 30 assists in his young career. That kind of pedigree is massive in this competition.
6. Al Shabab
Notable signings: Habib Diallo (£15m), Yannick Carrasco (£13m), Gustavo Cuellar (£1m), Romain Saiss (loan)
To try and keep up with the PIF-backed giants, Al Shabab went a little wild with their money and snapped up a couple of huge names.
Diallo just bagged 20 goals in Ligue 1 last season, while Carrasco has a lengthy history of mixing La Liga stardom with money chasing. He's the perfect player for a project like this.
5. Al Ettifaq
Notable signings: Jordan Henderson (£13m), Demarai Gray (£8m), Georginio Wijnaldum (£8m), Jack Hendry (£6m), Moussa Dembele (free)
Steven Gerrard's Al Ettifaq did the best job of trying to keep pace with the big boys.
Signing Liverpool's captain is a huge flex, as is beating Al Shabab to Gray's signature, while Wijnaldum, Hendry and Dembele are all big names who will boost the team's success.
4. Al Ahli
Notable signings: Gabri Veiga (£30m), Riyad Mahrez (£30m), Roger Ibanez (£28m), Allan Saint-Maximin (£23m), Merih Demiral (£17m), Edouard Mendy (£16m), Franck Kessie (£11m), Firas Al Buraikan (£8m)
Unsurprisingly, the top four teams in this list are the four who are backed by the PIF's wealth. We start with Al Ahli, who spent the best part of £170m on what is undeniably an excellent haul of talent.
With seven big names arriving, Al Ahli have put together a side which could genuinely rival a lot of teams in Europe.
3. Al Ittihad
Notable signings: Fabinho (£40m), Jota (£25m), Luiz Felipe (£21.5m), Hassan Kadesh (£9m), Karim Benzema (free), N'Golo Kante (free)
While Al Ahli may have a bigger and better group of players, Al Ittihad's limited business was astronomical in size.
To land Benzema and Kante on free transfers is the kind of business any team on the planet would dream of, while Fabinho is another massive flex from the reigning champions.
2. Al Nassr
Notable signings: Otavio (£51m), Aymeric Laporte (£25m), Sadio Mane (£24m), Seko Fofana (£21m), Marcelo Brozovic (£15m), Alex Telles (£4m)
Al Nassr did a great job of building around Ronaldo, adding some serious names to their squad.
£51m for Otavio is the sort of overspend these projects often require but to get Laporte, Mane, Fofana, Brozovic and Telles for under £90m is really impressive business. That's a core which will take some beating.
1. Al Hilal
Notable signings: Neymar (£77m), Malcom (£51m), Ruben Neves (£47m), Aleksandar Mitrovic (£46m), Sergej Milinkovic-Savic (£34m), Yassine Bounou (£18m), Kalidou Koulibaly (£17m), Hassan Tambakti (£10m)
Was it ever in doubt?
Al Hilal now have a team which would make it deep into the Champions League. Neymar is an outrageous pull but the rest of their signings all look capable of dominating in this division.
Spending £300m isn't a guaranteed route to success - just ask Chelsea - but there's no denying Al Hilal have pulled off something seriously special here.
This article was originally published on 90min as Every Saudi Pro League club's 2023 summer transfer window - ranked.
