Mbappe's Saudi snub no shock as box office stars know where it really counts

27 July 2023 , 20:08

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Despite being offered twelve million quid a week - or however much it is - Kylian Mbappe has, apparently, declined to enter talks with officials from Al-Hilal, a club that plays its football in the desert wasteland that is the Saudi Pro League.

Of course he has.

Because no self-respecting professional footballer in anything like his prime will go and toss away his career and his reputation in a Mickey Mouse competition for the sake of a sand dune-size mound of money. Leave that to those who are way past their best and to those whose hunger for cash is heartier than their conscience.

Former England stalwart, Jordan Henderson, for example. Henderson’s hypocrisy has been well-documented, so no need to go there again.

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Kylian Mbappe was turned down the chance to play in the Saudi Pro League (Anadolu Agency via Getty Images)

But the broader issue is whether or not his move to the seventh-best club in Saudi - one with an average attendance of 5,561 - is some sort of game-changer, some sort of sign that the Saudi Pro League could be a threat to the quality of the Premier League.

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And the answer is an emphatic no and no. Henderson might be box-to-box but box office he ain’t.

His tenacity, his leadership, his strength, his determination, his footballing brain are to be admired and his creative streak is probably a little bit more substantial than a lot of people think. But he is no marquee talent and he is probably honest enough to acknowledge as much himself.

Henderson has done a stellar job as the leader of the band but, at the age of 33, he is no headline act. Which is why his move to Saudi will have zero implications for club football in this country. And the same can be said for every other player who has switched or is intending to switch to Saudi.

Henderson’s former team-mate Fabinho? Stunk the place out last season. Riyad Mahrez? Very good when he fancied it but, according to Pep Guardiola, that was not often enough.

N’Golo Kante? Not his fault but often injured. Kalidou Koulibaly? Nothing but calamitous after arriving at Stamford Bridge last summer. Roberto Firmino, who left at the end of his Anfield contract, and Edouard Mendy could not get in their respective first-choice starting line-ups so will hardly leave huge voids.

Should all these moves be completed, it is interesting that Liverpool and Chelsea will have done a fair bit of business, selling to the Saudis. Liverpool and Chelsea just happen to be two blue-chip Premier League clubs who, by their own standards, have just had rotten seasons.

They needed to get rid of a few players and the Saudis are mug enough to give the clubs decent money and the players outlandish money. Happy days, if all involved park their morals for a moment.

In other words, it is a lucrative tipping ground. There is also, it seems, concern that the Saudi largesse will have an inflationary effect on the wages Premier League clubs have to pay. No, it won’t. Or at least it shouldn’t.

If ANY player goes to his Premier League club and suggests they should match the sort of money that is on offer in Saudi, that Premier League club should suggest he gets on the first plane to Riyadh. Chop, chop.

Because of the incredible sums being offered to players, the Saudi Pro League is an eye-catching distraction … but nothing more. As Kylian Mbappe, but not Jordan Henderson, would tell you.