Here at Vodacom Soccer, we are going to look through some of the players who have made the jump across the Mediterranean Sea to play in the Saudi Pro League.

David Ospina (SSC Napoli to Al Nassr – Free transfer)

FA Cup winner and Columbia international David Ospina made the move to the Saudi Pro League on the 11th June 2022 when he joined Cristiano Ronaldo’s Al Nassr on a free transfer.

He was first-choice goalkeeper for Al Nassr but an elbow injury in November 2022 - and surgery to correct that - had him out of action and therefore was unselected for the team’s roster.

He is still with the club and is currently in contention for re-selection for the Saudi Winter roster, with rumours circulating about his future at the Saudi giants.

Ospina joined London club Arsenal after a very successful career abroad playing for clubs like OGC Nice and Atlético Nacional.

He came to the Emirates in the summer of 2014 for a reported fee of around £3million but was back-up goalkeeper to Wojciech Szczesny at the start of the season.

After some good performances in cup competitions, Ospina was made first choice for the remainder of the 2014 season. His performances gave him a place on the Ballon D’Or Longlist for the 2015 campaign.

Despite transfer links in the summer of 2015, Ospina stayed at Arsenal but was demoted to a ‘cup-goalkeeper’ as Petr Cech joined the Gunners and took the No 1 jersey.

Despite the ‘cup-goalkeeper’ tag, Ospina was also dropped from Champions League games due to a poor performance against Olympiacos which was costly for the side as they lost 3-2.

His career at Arsenal came to a more stagnated end as he struggled for minutes, and poor performances kept him off the field.

With the arrival of Bernrd Leno at Arsenal, Ospina left on loan to Napoli to gain more playing time and with Alex Meret of Napoli being injured, he was given such.

It was July 2019 when Ospina signed permanently for Napoli and was used as first-choice goalkeeper due to his ability to work with the ball at his feet, which impressed manager Gennaro Gattuso. His Napoli career came to an end with a Coppa Italia win before moving to the Saudi Pro League, where he currently plies his trade.

Kalidou Koulibaly (Chelsea to Al-Hilal - £23million)

AFCON winner and Premier League star Kalidou Koulibaly made the swap from London to the Middle East on June 25th, 2023, after leaving Chelsea for Saudi Pro League big-hitters Al-Hilal, where he now plays with Neymar and former Premier League midfielder Ruben Neves.

Koulibaly has played 13 of the 16 games so far this season - and has obviously been doing well as the club sit top of the league, seven points ahead of Al Nassr and Cristiano Ronaldo.

Koulibaly’s career at Chelsea was a short one compared to what was expected when he signed a four-year deal at Stamford Bridge.

He joined in the July of 2022 for a reported fee of £33million and came into the heart of Chelsea’s defence, making 32 appearances during his season with the Blues, scoring two goals.

During the season, Chelsea massively underperformed by finishing 12th in the Premier League table and going through three separate managers.

Koulibaly was part of a £600million spending spree and upon leaving, criticised the ‘choices of the manager and the club’.

Koulibaly left Chelsea after a singular season and has since been performing brilliantly in the Saudi Pro League, where he continues to shine.

READ MORE: Premier League players who have moved from Manchester to the Middle East

Edouard Mendy (Chelsea to Al Ahli - £16million)

AFCON and Champions League winner Edouard Mendy signed for the Saudi Pro League side Al Ahli on the 28th June 2023 on a three-year contract.

It was reported he signed for an estimated £16million and he has been the first-choice goalkeeper for the side who currently sit in thirrd spot, just three points behind Al Nassr and 10 points short of Al-Hilal.

Mendy had a glittering career at Chelsea, winning three different trophies in his time at the club.

He joined the London giants in the September of 2020 on a five-year contract for a reported £22million.

Mendy made an immediate impact to life at Chelsea, going five matches without conceding - the first time this had happened in a decade.

In his first season he also became the first African goalkeeper to appear in the Champions League final since Bruce Grobbelaar in 1985. Chelsea went on to win the final 1-0, beating Premier league rivals Manchester City to the trophy.

Mendy started the UEFA Super Cup tie against Villarreal but was replaced by Kepa when it went down to penalties. Chelsea ultimately won the final and added another winners medal to Mendy’s cabinet.

In a personal victory, Mendy won the FIFA Best Goalkeeper award for the 2021/22 season but narrowly missed out on the Yashin Award, with the trophy going to Gianluigi Donnarumma of Italy.

The third trophy for the Senegalese player came from the FIFA Club World Cup which he started where they beat Palmeiras 2-1, two weeks after winning AFCON with Senegal, making that two trophies in just two weeks for the shot-stopper.

Despite so much success in his first two seasons, he was mostly left out of the squad in 2022/23, with three separate managers predominantly choosing Kepa over Mendy, forcing him to the bench and limiting his game time.

This was his final season with Chelsea before he departed to Al Ahli where he made a huge impression early on, with Al Ahli taking to social media to say “THE BEST goalkeeper is in our house!”.

Mendy has made 17 appearances so far this season and hasn’t been moved from the starting XI since he joined the club.

N’Golo Kante (Chelsea to Al Ittihad – Free transfer)

Premier League and Champions League winner N’Golo Kante moved from Chelsea to Al-Ittihad, where he plays alongside France team-mate Karim Benzema.

He moved upon the expiry of his contract from Stamford Bridge after seven successful years with the club, claiming domestic and European success along the way.

Kante joined Chelsea in the July of 2016, just off the back of the historic title win for Leicester City which defied all the odds, for a reported fee of £32million.

He massively impressed during his first season as he was named in the PFA Team of the Year, FWA Footballer of the Year and the Premier League Player of the Season.

In his first season, he became the first player since Eric Cantona to win the Premier League title in back-to-back seasons with different clubs and the following season he went on to receive an FA Cup Winners Medal after defeating Manchester United 1-0, a victory made even sweeter by the fact he was named Man of the Match.

Despite not being fully fit, Kante’s influence cannot be understated as was shown during the Europa League final against Arsenal when Chelsea triumphed over their London rivals 4-1.

Kante was lauded for his performances in the run-up to Chelsea’s Champions League win, as he played starring roles against Spanish sides Real Madrid and Atletico Madrid.

Even when Chelsea beat Manchester City 1-0 in the final, it was Kante who received the plaudits, with Arsene Wenger describing his performance as “unbelievable”.

Sadly the end of his Chelsea career was predominantly from the sidelines due to a hamstring injury which kept him out of action from August to April of 2023. He went on to leave the club in the June of the same year.

One of the best midfielders to grace the Premier League, who performed to the highest standard consistently, is now doing the same for Al-Ittihad who sit fifth in the Saudi Pro League.

Aleksandar Mitrovic (Fulham to Al-Hilal - £50million)

Finally, we look at Championship and Premier League star Aleksander Mitrovic, who made the controversial move from Fulham to Al-Hilal on the 19th August 2023 for a club-record fee of £50million, a move which Mitrovic pushed for and Fulham were reluctant to accept.

He made a glistening start to life in the Saudi Pro League with Al-Hilal when he scored on his debut in a 4-0 win over Al Raed - and scored his first hat-trick in the September in a 4-3 win over Al-Ittihad. Safe to say Al-Hilal are getting their money’s worth for the striker already.

Mitrovic first joined Fulham in 2018 on loan from Newcastle United.

He hit the ground running in the Championship, scoring his first goal on the 28th February which kickstarted a run of six goals in four games - and his prolific run continued, consequently helping him win Player of the Month for both March and April.

His inaugural season saw him become a play-off winner with Fulham as they triumphed 2-1 over Aston Villa.

Fulham made the move permanent with a fee which rose to £27million, signing Mitrovic on a five-year contract which didn’t get off to the best start as despite him scoring 11 goals in the Premier League, Fulham were relegated back to the Championship.

Mitrovic continued his prolific form in the Championship, ending the 2019/20 season with 26 goals, and he provided the assist for the winning goal in the play-off final, where we saw Fulham win again at the first time of asking.

Mitrovic had an issue where he struggled to replicate his Championship form when he was in the Premier League and this was no clearer than in the 2020/21 season.

Fresh off the back of a 26-goal scoring season, he managed three goals in 27 Premier League games as again Fulham were relegated to the Championship.

The yo-yo club struck again with Mitrovic demolishing his previous Championship goal tally as he scored 43 goals in 46 games for Fulham, equalling and breaking the record of Guy Whittingham for the highest-scoring English League season with the 46-game format - and they were crowned title winners as they achieved promotion (again) to the Premier League.

For the first time, Mitrovic was able to carry on his goalscoring form into the Premier League as he netted 14 times in 24 matches for Fulham in the 2022/23 season.

However his season didn’t have the greatest of endings due to an eight-game ban he received for poor on-field conduct when he shoved referee Chris Kavanagh. The FA appealed the decision on the grounds it wasn’t harsh enough, but it was rejected.

Mitrovic went on to play one game for Fulham in the 2023/24 season but moved to Al-Hilal for what’s rumoured to be a huge wage hike.

The prolific goalscorer is doing well in the Saudi Pro League as he currently sits on 14 goals in 16 games, making him the second top goalscorer in the league, just two goals behind Cristiano Ronaldo.

The pedigree of players who have made the move to the Saudi Pro League further confirms the excitement of the league and increase the competitiveness of the division as it continues to grow.

Almost undoubtedly more players will move to the division, making it even more attractive than it is now, and this would be even further benefited by the possibility of an invitation to the Champions League which is being rumoured.

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