Mohamed Salah has made an impact in Morocco with an injury-time winner to spare Egypt’s blushes in their Africa Cup of Nations opener against Zimbabwe but his future intervention in Saudi Arabia could be more meaningful. A Saudi Pro League (SPL) that had been moving away from signing big-name veterans is tempted by a player who will be 34 just as this season ends.

Although players such as Cristiano Ronaldo and Karim Benzema have been successes on and off the pitch, albeit incredibly expensive ones, the powers that be don’t want the SPL to be regarded as a retirement league in the sun for stars whose powers are waning. But Salah is different, the attraction intensified by the fact that he is the biggest-name player in the Arab world.

This is a direction that many in the league want to move towards as it searches for an enduring identity on the global stage. Is the goal to become a rival to the Premier League, or perhaps to try to take second place behind England’s top tier in the marketplace? Or is there a different direction, now the initial wave of excitement and interest has tailed off?

China found a decade ago that suddenly signing famous players guarantees short-term headlines but Beijing’s boom didn’t last long enough to think about what would come next. Players such as Nicolas Anelka and Didier Drogba were back in Europe within months.

Yet in Saudi Arabia, despite the headlines of impending doom when Jordan Henderson left early into his Al-Ettifaq stint and Neymar’s injury-hit spell at Al-Hilal, the stars have largely stayed. Benzema, N’Golo Kanté, Sadio Mané, Riyad Mahrez and others are in their third seasons – Ronaldo, the face of it all, is in his fourth. Time is ticking for many of these in terms of contracts, and, well, time.

There has been a noticeable move away from signing the veterans, with clubs still shopping in Europe but usually for those in their prime, such as last summer’s signings of Mateo Retegui, Darwin Núñez and Theo Hernández. There have also been many younger additions, such as Nathan Zézé and Enzo Millot. If these can be developed and sold on for profit, so much the better. Being regarded as a decent alternative to Europe for young global talent may not sound especially glamorous or exciting, but it is something no other league has managed.

Salah would, however, be a big boost. The SPL is popular in the Arab world but the Liverpool forward’s arrival would take it to a new level. Players such as Mahrez and Yassine Bounou are there and the recent Fifa Arab Cup (the 16-team tournament in Qatar went almost unnoticed internationally but attracted an impressive average attendance of more than 38,000), showed there is plenty of passion and no small amount of talent. There will be at least seven Arab teams – eight if Iraq win their playoff – at the 2026 World Cup. Becoming a go-to league for Africa, which has happened to an extent, and Asia, which hasn’t, is also an obvious step. Signing an Indonesian player, for example, adds millions to social media accounts, and there is always the tantalising prospect of finding the first Indian or Chinese breakout star.

That would be welcomed in Riyadh. Maintaining the early international interest was always going to be a challenge but this season has been especially tough. Despite the 2025-26 season kicking off in August, teams have played nine league games, compared with 17 by English teams. The international windows were bigger deals for Saudi Arabia because the national team had playoffs to qualify for the World Cup, which were won, just. Then came a longer stop for the Arab Cup. The league restarts on Thursday, the first action for more than a month.

Global broadcasters – the league said it had 37 media rights deals in place for this season, with matches available in more than 180 markets – have become increasingly frustrated, trying to build a loyal audience for a product that comes in fits and bursts, trying to build a narrative for clubs and players that have barely appeared. One told the Guardian that this season was almost a write-off with viewers having so many other options available.

League officials in Riyadh are going to have to find a way to ensure that the domestic competition does not play such a clear second fiddle to the national team. Otherwise, becoming a competition of global stature is going to be next to impossible whatever Gianni Infantino says. The Fifa president told Saudi media this week that he believes the league is on track to become one of the top three in the world.

Salah would add some immediate sparkle, but his greater value comes in what he could bring to the Arab world in the longer term. This is assuming, of course, that he wants to leave Liverpool, the club want to sell and that he wants to go to Saudi Arabia – all sizeable “ifs”. If it does happen, it will be more important as a capture of a still-glittering Arab legend than of an ageing English Premier League one.