The Saudi Pro League (SPL) also known as the Roshn Saudi League (RSL) for sponsorship reasons, is a professional association football league in Saudi Arabia and the highest level of the Saudi football league system.
After the end of the 1974–75 Saudi Categorization League, the first season of the Saudi Premier League was the 1976–77 season.
The league operated as a round-robin tournament from its inaugural season until the 1989–90 season. After that, the Saudi Federation decided to merge the football league with the King’s Cup into one tournament, adding the Golden Box.
The Golden Box was an end-of-season knockout competition played between the top four teams of the regular league season.
These teams would compete in a semi-final stage to crown the champions of Saudi Arabia. The league reverted to a round-robin system in the 2007–08 season and was rebranded as the Saudi Pro League in 2008.
The Saudi Pro League (SPL) is consistently ranked as the top league in Asia, thanks to the exceptional and consistent performances of its clubs in competitions like the AFC Champions League Elite, and the formerly held Asian Super Cup and Asian Cup Winners’ Cup, as well as being regarded as the toughest league on the continent.
Al-Hilal is the most successful team, holding 19 titles in its history and most recently winning the title in 2023–24.
Al-Shabab, Al-Ittihad and Al-Nassr are also some of the most successful teams in the league.
Beginning in 2023, the league started experiencing widespread international exposure due to attracting numerous top level players from European leagues through financially lucrative contracts, immediately becoming a star-studded league.
The nation’s Public Investment Fund took 75% stakes in four founding members (Al-Ahli, Al-Ittihad, Al-Hilal, and Al-Nassr) in the same year as part of the Saudi Vision 2030 program.
In this article, we’re going to take a look at some of the Players who earn a lot of money on a weekly, monthly, and even annualy.
- Sadio Mane
Ever since his move from Bundesliga giants Bayern Munich, Sadio Mane has become an important player at the Saudi Pro League club Al Nassr.
The former Liverpool star has developed a lethal partnership playing alongside Real Madrid and Manchester United icon Cristiano Ronaldo and just like the Portuguese attacker, Mane is on incredible wages playing in Saudi.
But exactly how much does the Senegalese earn playing for Al Nassr? Let’s find out!
- Sadio Mane’s salary in numbers
Under the terms of his contract at Al Nassr, Mane earns about £644,987 ($833,033), per week while his annual salary scales over £33 million ($43m).
This makes the Sengelase the second top earner at the club after a certain Portuguese.
- Top earners at Al Nassr
As it stands, Cristiano Ronaldo sits undisputedly at the top of the Al Nassr wage bill with an astronomical salary, followed by Mane who has also been an important player for the Saudi side.
At number three comes in former Manchester City centre-back Aymeric Laporte, while Croatian midfielder Marcelo Brozovic and recent signing Jhon Duran acquire the fourth and fifth spot in the list.
Top 5 highest paid players at Al Nassr
- Crisitiano Ronaldo/Portuguese/£3,224,935/$4,166,513/£164,696,622/$216,658,680
- Sadio Mane/Senegalese/£644,987/$833,303/£33,539,324/$43,331,736
- Aymeric Laporte/Spanish/£395,055/$510,398/£20,542,836/$26,540,688
- Marcelo Brozovic/Croatian/£390,217/$504,398/£20,291,291/$26,215,700
- Jhon Duran/Colombian/£329,105/$504,148/£17,113,440/$22,110,018
Just like the Al Nassr wage bill, Ronaldo maintains his position at the top even when it comes to the overall wage bill across the league. Following him is his former Real Madrid team-mate Karim Benzema.
At third comes Al Ahli’s Riyad Mahrez, while Senegal internationals Sadio Mane and Kalidou Koulibaly acquire the final two spots respectively.