Newcastle United owners' staggering investment revealed after Saudi deals with Liverpool, Chelsea & Man Utd

FIFA has revealed just how much money was spent by Saudi Pro League clubs over the summer.

Saudi clubs spent a total of £701million to bring in overseas players during the summer transfer window, according to the latest FIFA figures.

Al Hilal, Al Ittihad, Al Ahli and Al Nassr all became majority-owned by Saudi Arabia's Public Investment Fund over the summer, leading to significant investment into the Saudi Pro League.

PIF are also majority owners of Premier League side Newcastle United but are restricted in the money they can spend on transfers by Financial Fair Play regulations.

No such restrictions exist in the Saudi Pro League, allowing clubs to attract some of the biggest footballing names on the planet with lucrative fees and wage packages.

Following Cristiano Ronaldo's arrival at Al Nassr at the start of 2023, the likes of Neymar, Karim Benzema, Riyad Mahrez, Ruben Neves and Sadio Mane joined PIF-owned Saudi clubs over the summer.

Newcastle sold Allan Saint-Maximin to Al Ahli for £22million while the likes of Liverpool sold ageing stars such as Jordan Henderson and Fabinho while Chelsea sold Kalidou Koulibaly and Edouard Mendy. Manchester United also offloaded wantaway defender Alex Telles to Al Nassr.

Despite significant investment into the Saudi Pro League this summer, the £701million spend is still dwarfed by the money spent by Premier League clubs. The 2023 summer transfer window saw Premier League sides spend a record £2.36billion on new signings.

However, the majority of money spent by Saudi Pro League clubs is limited largely to the four PIF-owned clubs.