Al-Nassr are among Saudi Arabia’s ‘big four’ which also includes Al-Hilal, Al-Ahli and Al-Ittihad – all of whom have invested heavily since PIF’s takeover in 2023.
Saudi clubs spent about £700m during the 2023 summer, with Neymar joining Al-Hilal for £77.6m in the standout move.
Al-Hilal also signed Aleksandar Mitrovic and Neves from Fulham and Wolves, while Al-Nassr added Manchester United’s Alex Telles, Manchester City’s Aymeric Laporte, Bayern Munich’s Sadio Mane and Inter Milan’s Marcelo Brozovic.
Al-Ahli snapped up Mahrez (Manchester City), Edouard Mendy (Chelsea) and Firmino (Liverpool), while Al-Ittihad acquired N’Golo Kante (Chelsea), Fabinho (Liverpool) and Jota (Celtic) among others.
According to Saudi sources Al Hilal are increasingly confident of signing Karim Benzema.
The former France striker and teammate of Ronaldo at Real, has been training alone after falling out with bosses of fellow Saudi Pro League club Al-Ittihad over a possible contract extension.
But while Al-Ahli, Al-Ittihad and Al-Hilal have all gone on to win major silverware, Al-Nassr have failed to do so.
Amid a general downturn in Saudi Arabia’s outlay in recent windows, Al-Nassr are also behind newly promoted Neom SC and Al-Qadsiah in spendings since last summer.
Al-Qadsiah have added Mateo Retegui from Atlanta and 20-year-old Ghanaian winger Christopher Bonsu Baah from Genk, and only Al-Hilal have spent more than them since last summer.
Al-Nassr signed Joao Felix from Chelsea for £43.7m along with Kingsley Coman from Bayern Munich in the summer, but have been quiet during the January window, despite being in a three-way battle for the title with Al-Hilal and Al-Ahli.
Their title rivals Al-Hilal signed former Arsenal defender Pablo Mari and Rennes’ highly rated French forward Mohamed Kader Meite, 18, this window.