Is Saudi Arabia a genuine threat to the Premier League’s grip on football’s transfer market?
In Monte Carlo – where wealth is flaunted on Saudi scales – the powerbrokers of European football gathered to party and to plan the season ahead.
Publicly, many were dismissing any threat to the global supremacy of their competitions from the rising force.
But power is undeniably shifting.
The footballing landscape is being reshaped by Saudi Arabia, while some seem in denial about the heft of football’s new disruptors.
A turbo-charged spending splurge has enticed £700m of male talent from European clubs this summer alone to add a sheen to their state-funded clubs.
And there is still another week of the transfer window in the Gulf nation to go.
Another week to perhaps persuade Liverpool to part with Mohamed Salah if a fee of £150m proves too hard to resist – having already sold captain Jordan Henderson.
Perhaps only a Premier League could sacrifice such a windfall – even for the man relied on for goals.
Only England’s top division has outspent Saudi clubs in this transfer window, with their transfers’ totaliser ticking over £2bn for the first time.
Few have done more transfer trades at more Premier League clubs than Damien Comolli – one of the game’s most experienced club executives.
Encountering the former Arsenal, Liverpool and Tottenham executive on the sidelines of the UEFA gatherings, he was in no doubt about the resolve in Riyadh to make a success of it.
Is that a threat to the Premier League?
Mr Comolli told Sky News: “I definitely do. I think people who deny it are either lying to themselves or they are a bit blind.
“But they’re here to stay and I think they’re going to invest more and more money, be more and more competitive, and be more and more aggressive.”
He does think players still relish the chance to play in the Premier League or at the giants of the continent in Spain and Germany.
But then Saudi Arabia could prove irresistible.
Mr Comolli, currently president of French club Toulouse, said: “All the big clubs in Europe have got a challenge on their hands with the financial power of the Saudi clubs… which could have an impact on the Premier League.”
Those who have witnessed the growth of the Premier League are more cautious about readily ceding the standing as the world’s No 1 domestic competition.
Brighton chief executive Paul Barber told Sky News: “You never know what’s going to happen in the future.
“But I think at the moment, the Premier League’s brand, the quality of the clubs we have, the names of those clubs, just the respect that English football has around the world, I think the Premier League will continue to be the flagbearer for many years to come.”
A swagger that comes from vastly eclipsing spending across Europe.
Clubs in any rival league didn’t even collectively spend half of that – perhaps a sign of more astute financial management.
That is seen at Brighton which has made a success of turning players into profit with £110m and rising being banked from Chelsea for this summer’s British record sale of Moisés Caicedo.
And Brighton are now preparing for their first ever foray into a European competition.
Speaking after Friday’s Europa League draw, Mr Barber said: “We’d all like to be more sustainable and even more profitable.
“But that’s tough when we’re competing in the world market for the best players. But hopefully this summer transfer window will show again that the Premier League will be even stronger.”
A Deloitte tally – provided to Sky News on Friday early evening – had the Premier League spending on £2.2bn.
Italy’s Serie A was on £720m, France’s Ligue 1 on £678m, Germany’s Bundesliga on £630m and Spain’s La Liga on £352m.
These are leagues that will benefit from the Saudi bailout as cash is unloaded on clubs to part with their prized assets.
The Saudis are seen to some as the destabilising clubs in Europe as sport is used to distract from the kingdom’s human rights violations and reshape the country’s image.
This has been a summer transfer window – but it is one still dominated by the wealth of English clubs.
But for how much longer with the Saudis determined chip into the dominance of Europe funded by their oil wealth?
“I think you’ve got to take any competition for your players and your talent seriously,” Mr Barber said.
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“I don’t know where their end point is, what their overall ambition is, but certainly they are making a statement and we have to respect that.
“But at the moment, I think there are a lot more players that want to be in the Premier League than any other league in the world.
“And that hopefully will continue to make our league the most popular of the most watched and the most compelling.”