'Asia's first super club' - are Al-Hilal paving way for more Saudi success?

Tuesday was a big day for Saudi Arabian football.

Fans woke up early to watch Al-Hilal stun Manchester City 4-3 to move into the last eight of the Club World Cup, while in the evening newly promoted Neom SC kicked off what is expected to be a busy summer transfer period in the country by signing former Arsenal forward Alexandre Lacazette.

Since Cristiano Ronaldo signed for Al-Nassr in December 2022, the Saudi Pro League (SPL) has come a long way, as demonstrated by Ronaldo's Riyadh rivals Hilal.

The Blues started in the US with draws against Real Madrid and Red Bull Salzburg and progressed from the group stage with a win against Pachuca of Mexico.

After then achieving the first victory by an Asian side over European opposition at the Club World Cup, Hilal are full of confidence heading into the quarter-final clash with Fluminense on Friday at 20:00 BST.

But whatever happens against the Brazilians, the four-time Asian champions are ready to join the global elite.

"It is now safe to say that Al-Hilal have just become Asia's first super club," Simon Chadwick, Professor of AfroEurasian sport at the Emlyon Business School in Paris, told BBC Sport.

Chadwick says this is not all down to spending, however, after Hilal were taken over by Saudi Arabia's Public Investment Fund (PIF), which also owns Newcastle United, in 2023.

In those two years they have added a mix of veteran stars - defenders Joao Cancelo and Kalidou Koulibaly from Manchester City and Chelsea - players in their prime such as Malcom, Ruben Neves, Aleksandar Mitrovic, Sergej Milinkovic-Savic and Renan Lodi, and youngsters including Brazilian forward Marcos Leonardo from Benfica.

Neymar was signed from Paris St-Germain and then left for Santos. Meanwhile, Simone Inzaghi arrived from Inter as manager shortly after the Milan side's Champions League final defeat by PSG.

"Al-Hilal has long had a large, committed fan base and has enjoyed considerable success," added Chadwick.

"However, the stability and discipline that PIF ownership has brought, allied to revenues the club is now generating, have clearly elevated Al-Hilal to a new level."

On numerous occasions, Ronaldo, who last week extended his Al-Nassr deal by two years, has said he believes the SPL to be one of the top five leagues in the world.

Former Al-Hilal midfielder Tarik El-Taib agrees.

"When we look at the league, we talk about Joao Cancelo, Riyad Mahrez, Cristiano Ronaldo, Karim Benzema," said the ex-Libya international.

"If you look at the Spanish league - excluding Real Madrid, Barcelona and Atletico Madrid - the foreign players in the Saudi League are at a higher level.

"There are clubs like Chelsea that have a lot of professional players, but they are not like the big names in the Saudi League."

In the summer of 2023 SPL clubs spent about £700m in the transfer window on players including N'Golo Kante, Neymar, Roberto Firmino and Sadio Mane.

A year later more came. Ivan Toney, Cancelo, Moussa Diaby and Steven Bergwijn were among them.

In the big signing of January saw Al-Nassr spent about £65m on Jhon Duran of Aston Villa - a deal that also reflected a growing move towards signing younger players.

More deals are expected before the new season kicks off in August.

Al-Hilal, looking to replace Neymar, whose injury-hit 18 months in Riyadh ended in January as he returned to Brazil, have been linked to Napoli's Victor Osimhen, Son Heung-min of Tottenham and Darwin Nunez of Liverpool.

The English champions' other South American forward Luis Diaz is reportedly an Al-Nassr target.

The money is there. Six of the 18 teams in the top tier are among the richest in the world.

In 2023, as well as Al-Hilal, the PIF also took over Al-Nassr and Jeddah giants Al-Ittihad and Al-Ahli.

Ahli won the Asian Champions League for the first time in May but they finished fifth at home, one place below newly promoted Al-Qadsiah, buoyed by Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang and Mexican marksman Julian Quinones scoring 37 goals between them.

With Saudi oil giants Aramco backing the eastern club, more big names are expected.

Neom SC are a recent addition after winning promotion in April. The club represent a city that does not yet exist and are expected to make the move 130 miles west to the Red Sea coast from their current home of Tabuk early in the next decade.

Also backed by PIF, Neom have started preparation for a first top-tier season by bringing in Lacazette from Lyon.

The new city of Neom will host games at the 2034 World Cup and there are rumours that Saudi Arabia will bid to stage the 2033 club tournament.

However, it could be that success at the national team level will take some time to catch up.

After appearing at the past two World Cups, Saudi Arabia are not one of the six teams in Asia that qualified directly for the 2026 edition, and they must now head down the play-off route.

The Green Falcons finished third in their group behind Japan and Australia, largely thanks to scoring only seven goals in 10 games, none of which came from a recognised striker.

With most clubs filling their attacking spots with foreign talent and few Saudi players heading overseas, Roberto Mancini complained last September, just weeks before he was fired as national team manager, about the lack of opportunities given to domestic stars.

"Saudi Arabia's international players must participate as core players with their clubs," said the Italian. "I have 20 players sitting on the bench in local matches."

His replacement (and predecessor) Herve Renard has made similar comments.

The case of Firas Al-Buraikan is illustrative. The striker was the fifth top goalscorer in the 2023-24 season with 17 goals, but after Al-Ahli signed England forward Toney from Brentford in August Al-Buraikan spent much of the next campaign on the left wing or the bench, with a return of only three goals.

That it not a concern for Al-Hilal, now within sight of the global title.

The real prize, though, has already been achieved, according to Chadwick.

"As in the cases of Real Madrid, Barcelona, Bayern Munich and others, Hilal will be able to buy better players, further build team success and ultimately strengthen their position as part of world football's elite," he said.