Saudi Arabia wants to demonstrate its power to the world through Vinicius

A billion euros over five years plus bonuses. The club Al Hilal FC could make Brazilian Vinicius Junior the highest-paid footballer in history.

With an estimated market value of 180 million euros, he ranks among the top four most valuable footballers in the world. The Brazilian dribbler playing for Real Madrid, Vinicius Junior, 24 years old, is a current sports superstar. And although he hasn’t yet reached the legendary status of a generation-older greats like Cristiano Ronaldo or Lionel Messi, in terms of performance, Vinicius already belongs to the global elite.

However, when it comes to salary, the youth product of the famous Brazilian club Flamengo is not playing in the top league. His base annual salary at the royal club is “only” around 15.4 million euros. In comparison, Cristiano Ronaldo earns an annual salary of about 183 million euros at Saudi Arabian club Al-Nassr.

The Saudi petrodollars – or more precisely, the ambitions of the ruling elite – have once again shown their immense power. According to Reuters, the club Al Hilal FC is luring Vinicius to its squad, offering the player a staggering salary of 200 million euros per year. That’s not only 13 times more than what Vinicius currently earns in Madrid, but also a level of pay no footballer has ever received before. Al Hilal is interested in signing Vinicius for at least five years, meaning that – excluding bonuses – the South American star would earn the nearly unimaginable sum of one billion euros over the duration of the contract. And of course, that would be on top of various performance and other bonuses and rewards. (...)

However, if Vinicius was to also head to the Saudi Pro League, he would claim the honor of being the world’s highest-paid footballer. He was formally approached through the Saudi Arabian sovereign wealth fund, the Public Investment Fund (PIF), one of the wealthiest financial funds in the world. The total assets of this megafund are estimated at around 940 billion dollars. Moreover, PIF owns 75% of shares in the four biggest Saudi football clubs – including Al Hilal FC. So Vinicius’s arrival is effectively in the national interest.

Yes, there are already many big-name footballers playing in Saudi Arabia. But the case of the Brazilian would be different. The star winger is at the peak of his footballing career. “Real Madrid is in many aspects the number one club in the world. And Vinicius is considered by many to be its brightest star. If the biggest star of the biggest club in the world were to move to the Saudi professional league, it could possibly be the most unique transfer in football history,” noted sports analyst Jozef Tokos for Economic Daily. (...)