MOSCOW, Aug 3 Barcelona president Joan Laporta criticized football players who moved to clubs from Saudi Arabia.
Sadio Mane, Malcolm, Fabinho, Sergei Milinkovic-Savic, Ruben Neves, Riyad Mahrez, Karim Benzema, Jordan Henderson, N'Golo Kante and other well-known football players moved to the Saudi teams in the summer transfer window. In December 2022, Cristiano Ronaldo signed a contract with Al-Nasr.
«When a player, with all due respect to him, chooses to go to Saudi Arabia, it's mostly not for sporting reasons. There are other reasons that are a priority. Football should be a priority, sporting reasons should be a priority,» — quoted Laporta CNN.