Here, Vodacom Soccer takes a look at those players from Manchester United and Manchester City who have made the move to the Saudi Pro League.

We explore what they did at their respective Manchester club - and how they are doing now.

Cristiano Ronaldo (Manchester United to Al Nassr)

By far the biggest name who almost led the line for players moving to Saudi Arabia is debatably the best player in the world - Cristiano Ronaldo.

Ronaldo had a contract agreed with Saudi Pro League team Al Nassr on the 30th December 2022 which allowed him to join the club from the 1st January 2023, a contract lasting until 2025.

Ronaldo started his career at Manchester United in 2003 after making the move from Sporting CP, becoming the first Portuguese player to ever sign for Manchester United - and his £12.24million transfer fee made him the most expensive teenager in English football history.

During his first season, he ended up with 29 appearances and four goals, including one in the 2004 FA Cup final which contributed towards Ronaldo’s first trophy with the Red Devils.

The British press weren’t used to seeing his type of skill and talent and mocked Ronaldo for his ‘elaborate’ step-overs. His team-mate Gary Neville jumped to the defence of Ronaldo, saying he was ‘not a show pony, but the real thing’.

The star man went on to score United’s 1,000th Premier League goal in October of 2004 and a few weeks after, signed a new contract which would keep him at the club until 2010.

In the 2004/05 season, Ronaldo won his second trophy with Manchester United, again scoring in the final to see them triumph 4-0 over Wigan Athletic in the Football League Cup.

Despite the successes of playing in England with Manchester United, Ronaldo faced a fair amount of controversy as well, especially during this 2005/06 season when a few incidents happened in a short space of time.

Ronaldo was given a one-match ban after swearing at Benfica fans, was sent off in the Manchester derby for kicking former United player Andy Cole - and his trickery on the ball and showboating style of football didn’t sit well with team-mate Ruud van Nistelrooy, meaning the pair clashed off the field.

A World Cup incident with Wayne Rooney seemed to be the final straw as Ronaldo publicly asked for a move away from Manchester United, which the club declined.

Despite the controversy, Ronaldo remained a Manchester United player and had his breakthrough season in 2006/07 when he broke the 20-goal barrier for the first time and came away a Premier League title winner.

This season he received two Player of The Month Awards in November and December, being only the third player to win the award consecutively.

His performances domestically and in Europe saw him win all four main PFA and FWA awards, being the first player to win them all.

He saw his wages hiked to £120,000 a week and came second in the Ballon D’or rankings behind Kaka and third in the 2007 FIFA World Player of the Year, again behind Kaka and Messi.

It was March 2008 when Ronaldo first captained Manchester United, a game in which he scored both goals in a 2-0 win over Bolton Wanderers.

This campaign he surpassed George Best’s total of 32 goals in a season, setting the club’s new single-season record by a midfielder. This also meant he won the Premier League Golden Boot and European Golden Shoe in the same season.

It was in Europe he further impressed, scoring in the lead-ups to the quarter-finals, semi-finals and final, helping Manchester United win the Champions League. He emerged the Champions League top scorer and was named UEFA Club Footballer of the Year.

Before his final season (during his first tenure) at Manchester United, more speculation followed about a move for the Portuguese star to Real Madrid.

Following this, Manchester United submitted a complaint to FIFA but president Sepp Blatter sided with the Spanish side, saying the player should be allowed to leave the club and described the situation as ‘modern slavery’.

During the 2009/09 season, Ronaldo underwent ankle surgery which kept him off the pitch for 10 weeks - yet he returned strong with a brace and his 100th goal for Manchester United.

By the end of 2008, Ronaldo had won the FIFA Club World Cup and won the Silver Ball in the process. He won the 2008 Ballon d’Or - and the FIFA World Player of the Year, becoming the first Premier League player to win the award.

To top off his time at Manchester United, he won the FIFA Puskas Award for a 40-yard strike against Porto. Despite losing to Barcelona in the Champions League final, he ended his time at United with nine trophies.

Despite that silverware haul, Ronaldo then arguably spent the prime of his career in Madrid, winning pretty much everything there is to win domestically and internationally with the Spanish giants and putting his rivalry with Lionel Messi in the spotlight as both battled it out in La Liga.

Ronaldo went on to play for Juventus before returning to Manchester United in 2021. He was immediately given back the No 7 shirt and in the first 24 hours of Ronaldo’s shirt being released, it broke the all-time sales record following a transfer, overtaking Messi and his move to PSG.

On Ronaldo’s second debut for the Red Devils, he scored a brace against Newcastle to win the game 4-1, returning to Old Trafford to do what he does best.

In the 2021/22 season, he came away with 30 Premier League appearances, scoring 18 in the process along with six goals in seven Champions League games.

Ronaldo passed 800 career goals this season after netting two against Arsenal in December.

Despite his impressive goalscoring record and being named in the Premier League Team of the Year, he went a season trophyless for the first time since 2010.

After this disappointing season and being unhappy with the direction of Manchester United, Ronaldo tried to get a transfer away from the club in the off-season but failed to do so due to his age and high wage demands.

Consequently, he lost his place to team-mates Marcus Rashford and Anthony Martial.

Ronaldo was seemingly being forced out by senior executives of the club and manager Erik ten Hag, despite the latter publicly stating how important of a player Ronaldo was to the team.

It was on the 14th November that Ronaldo sat and had an interview with Piers Morgan where he claimed to feel ‘betrayed’ by the club and those working within it. Following the revealing interview, his contract with Manchester United was terminated.

This gave Ronaldo the chance to move to the Saudi Pro League, where he currently plies his trade, playing for Al Nassr on a reported wage of 200million euros a year, after rejecting moves to the MLS to make the move happen.

He went on to make his competitive debut as captain of Al Nassr in a 1-0 win over El-Ettifaq but scored his first goal in a 2-2 draw against Al-Fateh.

Despite winning Player of the Month for his record of eight goals and two assists, he was again trophyless as Al Nassr finished runners-up in the SPL.

Ronaldo was somewhat a trailblazer for the Saudi Pro League and increased the popularity both internationally and domestically, with countless European stars moving to the SPL.

It was in 2023/24 that Ronaldo made history with Al Nassr, by helping them win their first Arab Club Champions Cup final, scoring both goals for his side against rivals Al-Hilal.

Ronaldo is by far the biggest name to have moved to the SPL and by far the biggest from Manchester - his experience and popularity has helped the SPL grow into the league it is now.

YOU MAY ALSO LIKE: Man Utd analysis: Old Trafford no longer a place for home comforts

Alex Telles - Manchester United to Al Nassr

Brazilian international Telles didn’t have the glistening Manchester United career which Ronaldo had - but still played for the Red Devils for two seasons between 2020 and 2022.

He joined Manchester United from Porto in 2020 for a reported £15.4million and on the 5th of October it was confirmed he would be a United player.

Telles racked up a total of 50 appearances for Manchester United in all competitions, marking his debut in a 2-1 win over PSG in October of 2020.

During his time at Manchester United, he scored once in a Champions League game against Villarreal to help win the game 2-1.

Telles left the club on loan to Sevilla in the August of 2022 until the end of the season and therefore the end of his contract, before making the move to the SPL and Al Nassr.

Odion Ighalo - Manchester United to Al-Hilal (now plays for Al-Wehda)

Ighalo is somewhat an SPL veteran who has played in the league for three different clubs now but currently plays for Al-Wehda after his time at Al-Hilal and Al Shabab came to an end.

Ighalo is another player who probably didn’t have the desired effect when he first moved to Manchester United, but it was one he had always wanted, calling it a ‘dream’ to play for his boyhood club and reportedly taking a cut in pay to make it happen.

He moved to Manchester United on the 31st of January 2020 on loan from parent club Shanghai Shenhua, where he was reportedly earning over £400,000 a week, so no wonder he had to take a pay cut!

By moving to Manchester United, he became the first Nigerian player to play for the club and the seventh African player. He chose the No 25 shirt to honour United’s first and longest-serving African player, Quinton Fortune.

Ighalo scored his first goal for the Red Devils against Club Brugge in the Europa League, this also marked his debut for the club.

Before football was suspended due to the COVID-19 Pandemic, Ighalo was voted for United’s Goal of the Month due to the half-volley he scored in a 5-0 win over LASK.

With COVID-19 ripping the football season away, Ighalo’s loan was extended from May 2020 to the January of 2021 when his loan ended.

He finished his time at Manchester United with 11 Premier League appearances and zero league goals. However, he scored five goals in domestic and European competitions.

Ighalo then made the move to Al-Shebab where he scored 13 goals in 19 games for the club. Despite this, he only stayed for a year due to a breakdown with the management and the club as they blocked him from travelling to AFCON in Cameroon. This ultimately led to his move to rivals Al-Hilal.

His time at Al-Hilal was also short-lived - but he massively contributed towards Al-Hilal winning the Saudi Pro League title and secured the top-scorer award with 24 goals. He left upon the expiry of his contract and became a free agent.

Now Ighalo plies his trade with Al-Wehda, where he currently has a record of eight goals in 11 appearances for the club as they sit 10th in the SPL.

READ MORE: Who are the longest-serving Premier League managers still in their job?

Riyad Mahrez - Manchester City to Al Ahli

Premier League winner and Algeria winger Riyad Mahrez joined the Saudi Pro League at the beginning of the 2023/24 season after completing four seasons with Manchester City.

He is the first player that we look at from the blue side of Manchester and he started his career with City in 2018.

Mahrez joined City from Leicester City, a club which he won two champions titles with, one in the Championship and one when Leicester broke all the odds and won the Premier League titles.

He joined City with a transfer fee of £60million, breaking the record for the most expensive Manchester City signing, most expensive African footballer ever and a club record-fee received by Leicester City.

He joined with the ambition of winning the Champions League and started strong with a debut win against Chelsea in the FA Community Shield at Wembley Stadium.

It was the start of 2019, Mahrez won his second trophy with Manchester City by winning the EFL Cup against Chelsea. He also won the EFL Cup although he didn’t play in the final.

He finished the season with limited playing time with just 14 league starts, but with a second Premier League medal, becoming the second African to win the title with two different clubs, only after Kolo Toure.

Mahrez said he wouldn’t leave City despite his lack of playing time, entrusting his talent and potential.

This paid off as in 2018/19 season he became the first African player to win the English Treble, with the FA Cup final also being won by Manchester City in the same season.

Mahrez missed the FA Community Shield in 2019 due to concerns over medicine he was given by the Algerian national team - however it was described as a ‘non-event’.

He then started in Manchester City’s opening day against West Ham where he contributed to all five of the goals scored.

He ended the season with 33 appearances and 11 goals in the Premier League, with that he made 12 assists totalling in 23 G/A in 33 appearances.

In 2020/21, Riyad Mahrez massively helped Manchester City to move into the Champions League final for the first time in their history through a direct free-kick in a 2-1 win - however, City lost the final to Premier League rivals Chelsea.

In this season he ended up with 27 Premier League appearances and nine goals to his name alongside six assists. However, he made 48 appearances across all competitions, proving why he wanted to stay at Manchester City despite concerns at the beginning.

For the second time, Mahrez was shortlisted for the Ballon D’Or in the 2021/22 season but finished 12th with Karim Benzema taking the crown for the first time.

During this season, he scored 24 goals in all competitions and Manchester City won the Premier League title, beating Liverpool to the title by just one point.

Finally in 2022/23, Mahrez lived his dream as Man City beat Inter Milan 1-0 in the Champions League final whilst also helping to complete the infamous continental Treble despite not featuring in either the FA Cup final nor the Champions League final.

However, his contributions cannot be understated as he scored a hat-trick against Sheffield United in the FA Cup semi-final.

On July 19th 2023, it was reported that Mahrez would leave Manchester City to join SPL team Al Ahli for a fee of £30million with the confirmation coming on the 28th July 2023.

He plays alongside Liverpool’s Roberto (Bobby) Firmino at Al Ahli who currently sit in third place, just behind Al Nassr and Al-Hilal.

Aymeric Laporte - Manchester City to Al Nassr

The second and final player we look at from Manchester City is Spain international Laporte, who has had a glistening career both domestically and internationally playing at the highest level.

When he arrived at Man City, he signed for a reported fee of £57million which was his release clause from Athletic Bilbao.

In his first season, he was able to win himself a Premier League medal following his nine appearances in the season, contributing with impressive performances to the unprecedented 100 points gained in a single season.

He made a hugely impressive 51 appearances during the 2018/19 season and completed his first domestic Treble whilst scoring five goals during the season, including an important goal on the final day as City went on to win consecutive Premier League titles.

Laporte was always an automatic starter for Manchester City even after an injury which he had to undergo surgery for.

However in 2020/21, he suffered a few poor performances and lost his starting spot to England defender John Stones, who formed a great partnership with Ruben Dias whilst Laporte was on the sidelines.

Because of this, Laporte only managed to make 27 appearances in all competitions for Manchester City.

However, this turned around in 2021/22 when he made 44 appearances in all competitions and started to win his place back, winning the Premier League title again.

His final season with the Citizens saw him complete the continental Treble, winning the Premier League for the fifth time, the Champions League in a 1-0 victory over Inter Milan and the FA Cup, when they beat fierce rivals Manchester United 2-1.

Laporte only made 12 appearances in his final season in the Premier League and wasn’t able to register a goal in those matches, however he will be fondly remembered as a great defender who played during Manchester City’s great years.

He moved on for a reported fee of £23.6million which made Laporte the most expensive defender to ever play in the Saudi Pro League - and currently plays with Ronaldo and Telles at Al Nassr, who currently sit in second place in the table.

Lots of players have made the move from Manchester to the Middle East, with more bound to come as the Saudi Pro League continues to grow and gain even more popularity domestically and internationally.

With teams like Al Nassr consistently adding talented players to their books alongside clubs like Al-Hilal and Al-Ahli, the league will continue to become more competitive as it grows, enticing more attention and global superstars from across the world.

READ MORE: Premier League analysis: How Unai Emery has turned Aston Villa into title contenders

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