Benzema, Mahrez & Firmino Have Been Overvalued by Millions by Saudi Pro League Clubs – Let’s Look At The Numbers

We're only mid-way through the 2023 summer transfer window and lucrative offers from the Saudi Pro League have already attracted big names such as Benzema, Firmino and Henderson to make…

By Rahul Roy

August 9, 2023

2 min read

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We’re only mid-way through the 2023 summer transfer window and lucrative offers from the Saudi Pro League have already attracted big names such as Benzema, Firmino and Henderson to make the move. More players are expected to follow, including a rumoured record-breaking €300 million bid for Kylian Mbappe.

With this in mind, experts were curious to investigate which new Saudi new signings have been overvalued the most. To do this, they compared their reported total salary for their time at the new club to their current market value.

Benzema, Mahrez & Firmino Have Been Overvalued by Millions by Saudi Pro League Clubs – Let’s Look At The Numbers

	Player	Team	Reported Total Contract Salary	Market Value	Amount Overvalued By
1	Karim Benzema	Al Ittihad	€601,529,580	€25,000,000	€576,529,580
2	Cristiano Ronaldo	Al-Nassr	€504,189,038	€15,000,000	€489,189,038
3	N’Golo Kante	Al Ittihad	€200,976,162	€15,000,000	€185,976,162
4	Marcelo Brozovic	Al Nassr	€122,404,275	€25,000,000	€97,404,275
5	Kalidou Koulibaly	Al Hilal	€104,917,950	€15,000,000	€89,917,950
6	Riyad Mahrez	Al-Ahli	€89,529,984	€20,000,000	€69,529,984
7	Jordan Henderson	Al-Ettifaq	€63,650,223	€10,000,000	€53,650,223
8	Edouard Mendy	Al Ahli	€55,956,240	€12,000,000	€43,956,240
9	Roberto Firmino	Al Ahli	€59,453,505	€18,000,000	€41,453,505
10	Jota	Al Ittihad	€34,972,650	€13,000,000	€21,972,650

All data was collected on 31/07/2023. The ranking is subject to change once the transfer window closes on September 20. More players are to be added when information is released.

The player being overvalued the most is Karim Benzema, with his recent signing to Al Ittihad. Previously at Real Madrid, the centre forward has a market value of €25m and Al Ittihad have offered a total reported wage of €601m (€200m a year on a three-year contract), meaning he has been overvalued by a whopping €576 million.

Taking second place is Al-Nassr’s signing of Cristiano Ronaldo. The centre forward, previously at Man Utd, has signed a reported yearly salary of €201m for 2.5years (€504m in total) – Compared to his market value of €15m, the club have overvalued the player by €489m.

Al Ittihad signing of former Chelsea defence midfielder N’Golo Kante takes third, with reported earnings of €200m for two years. With a market value of €15m, this suggests Kante has been overvalued by €185m.

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