After its summer of big spending, the Saudi top-flight has been packed with storylines so far as it heads for its mid-season break
Like many competitions around the world, the Saudi Pro League has its own mid-season break, and the much-talked about division is now not set to resume until mid-February after signing off for 2023 over the past weekend.
The intrigue around the league's potential remains following its eye-opening summer of spending, and it remains to be seen just how that is backed up during the winter window, with a number of top players again being linked with big-money moves to the Middle East.
On the pitch, a number of the big-name arrivals have lived up to their billing, though not every club goes into the break especially happy with how their campaign is panning out. Managers are beginning to come under fire, and there is a fear that the title race could be over already.
With all that in mind, GOAL breaks down the biggest winners and losers from the Saudi Pro League season so far…
Getty ImagesWINNER: Cristiano Ronaldo
There's no doubt who the Pro League's player of the season so far is, with Ronaldo having returned 20 goals and nine assists in just 18 games. Say what you want about the overall level of the league, but the five-time Ballon d'Or winner is showing he can still dominate as he closes in on his 39th birthday.
Ronaldo's performances have turned around what was a nightmare start to the season for Al-Nassr as they lost their opening two games. Since then, though, they have dropped points on just two other occasions, and go into the mid-season break sat second in the table while still in contention to win both the AFC Champions League and King's Cup.
As long as the Portuguese superstar maintains his fine form in 2024, then it could be a trophy-laden campaign in Riyadh.
AdvertisementGettyLOSER: Neymar
While Ronaldo remains the biggest name in the Pro League, the honour of being the most expensive signing in the competition's history belongs to Neymar after Al-Hilal forked out €90 million (£77m/$98m) to bring in the Brazilian from Paris Saint-Germain in August.
Unfortunately for the most successful club in Saudi football history, they are going to have to wait to see any return on their investment after Neymar's first campaign in the Middle East was cut short after making just three league appearances.
Fitness issues meant the ex-Barcelona star's debut was delayed as it was, and though he provided three assists in those three league games once he was on the pitch, the growing hype didn't last long, as Neymar suffered a season-ending knee injury while representing Brazil in October.
It remains to be seen quite whether he will ever be the same player again as he closes in on his 32nd birthday, but this was certainly not the season anyone envisaged for the league's newest superstar. Fortuntaly for Al-Hilal, they don't seem to be missing Neymar all that much…
Getty ImagesWINNER: Al-Hilal's other signings
While they have been shorn of their presumed attacking linchpin, that hasn't stopped Al-Hilal from proving themselves to be the class of the Pro League. Jorge Jesus' side remain unbeaten through 19 matches, which has allowed them to open up a seven-point lead at the top of the table.
More so than any other team, they have been driven on by their big-name summer signings. Goalkeeper Yassine Bounou has quickly proven himself the best in the division after coming in from Sevilla, while ahead of him, Kalidou Koulibaly has marshalled a defence that has conceded just nine league goals thus far.
In midfield, Ruben Neves and Sergej Milinkovic-Savic have lived up to their billing as a potentially transformative duo, and up front Aleksandar Mitrovic is challenging Ronaldo for the Golden Boot after netting 17 goals in as many games. Alongside him, Malcom has chipped in with nine goals and five assists himself, including scoring two hat-tricks.
Koulibaly aside, none of those players could have been tagged as being past their primes when they arrived in pre-season, and Hilal have perhaps laid the blueprint for other clubs when it comes to the profile of players they should be targeting with their immense wealth in future windows.
Getty LOSER: Karim Benzema & Al-Ittihad
The other superstar player who arrived over the summer, Benzema came in as the reigning Ballon d'Or winner and joined a squad at Al-Ittihad that were still celebrating winning the Pro League title a few weeks prior. To say things haven't gone to plan, though, would be an understatement.
The defending champions find themselves languishing down in seventh place heading into the break, and are already a remarkable 25 points off the top of the table. Even qualification for next season's AFC Champions League feels like a stretch, with the bottom three clubs currently closer than the top three in terms of points.
The signs were not good from the off, with reports suggesting that manager Nuno Espirito Santo was not altogether pleased with Benzema's arrival, while another highly-touted summer signing, Jota, was left out of the Ittihad squad when they registered their official roster following the closure of the transfer window.
Nuno eventually paid for a poor start to the season with his job, but things have got little better under his replacement, Marcelo Gallardo. They have won just one of their five league games under the Argentine coach, losing the last three, including an embarrassing 5-2 home defeat to Ronaldo and Al-Nassr.
As for Benzema, his tally of nine league goals and five assists is by no means poor, but is some way off those towards the top of the goal charts. The former Real Madrid striker has come in for criticism for both his attitude and his fitness, with this so far proving to be a rather underwhelming final chapter to one of the best careers of the 21st century.
