WizKids reject Arsenal, Barcelona for Qatar; Iran goes Ronaldo & SPL crazy: Why UEFA need to take notice

COMMENT: Another week and another momentum shift for the game. Alexander Ceferin may dismiss it. Others at UEFA may avoid it. But there is a shift in football. From Europe to Asia. It’s happening. And the blows will soon be so heavy that they cannot be ignored…

As we say, it’s happening. It really is happening. Just as we predicted at the turn of the year as Cristiano Ronaldo blazed his trail with Al Nassr. He has lit up the region. Even a stadium ban couldn’t quell the enthusiasm. Hundreds (or was it thousands in the end?) chasing down Al Nassr’s team bus in Persepolis, Iran, ahead of their Asian Champions League opener against the local team.

As we’ve stated before, the impact of this influx of stars won’t be truly felt until the Champions League kicks off. When results matter. Make no mistake, the Asian Champions League made a huge jump this week. In interest. In star power. And, crucially, in legitimacy. The global centre of football is under threat.

The biggest online news sites are now covering the Saudi Pro League. They’re introducing special SPL sections to their home page. The demand. The clicks. It’s all there. More space. More images for the sponsors of Al-Nassr and Al-Hilal shirts – and less for their European equivalents. Will UEFA president Ceferin continue to be so dismissive?

An exaggeration? No. Not when you consider the images of local Iranian kids running around in Al Nassr shirts this week. They weren’t wearing the tops of Real Madrid. Nor Manchester United. They proudly were wearing Al Nassr shirts with Ronaldo and Mane across their backs. Such a shame that the AFC chose to implement their stadium ban on Persepolis FC this week. And for an indiscretion now almost three years old.

But no matter, we’ll learn more about how fans across the region are responding to the SPL in the next round as Al Hilal and Al Ittihad, which kicked off their campaign in front of almost 30,000 fans, go on their trips abroad. But the crazy Iranian reaction to Ronaldo and his Al Nassr teammates does suggest the SPL is making a broader impact.

Indeed, just as we tipped it earlier this year, that impact includes the demand from competing leagues to lift their own standards. The Qatar Stars League a case in point. In the week Ronaldo was shaking Iran, Al-Arabi were splashing out €45m to bring Marco Verratti to Qatar. The Euro 2020 winner joining his former PSG teammate Rafinha for the new season. Philippe Coutinho, of course, has now left Aston Villa for Al-Duhail. While Rodrigo Moreno earlier in the summer left Leeds disappointed as he quit for Al-Rayyan.

Verratti? Coutinho? Okay, okay, that old argument of a retirement village could gain traction. But that would be ignoring another major blow in the world’s transfer market pulled off by QSL clubs. Indeed, for this past week, it was a double blow.

Gabri Veiga was the first. A breakthrough star with Celta Vigo. Wanted by Europe’s biggest clubs. Yet the Spain U21 attacker chose Saudi Arabia and Al-Ahli ahead of Barcelona, PSG and Arsenal.

But as this week’s events have shown, Gabri will be no one-off. Like Ronaldo, the young midfielder will be the first of many. A trailblazer. And we’re already witnessing it being played out in Qatar.

Uruguay U20 captain. Courted by Barcelona. Liverpool. Even Manchester City. Fabricio Diaz was always leaving hometown club Liverpool de Montevideo this summer. Barca (much like Gabri) were regarded favourites for his signature. Indeed, his agents met with Barca directors at the Ciutat Esportiva Joan Gamper before the end of last season. The deal appeared a formality.

Yet instead, Diaz – at 20 – signed for Al-Gharafa this week, putting pen to paper on a five-year contract no less. It’s since emerged he had formal offers from Barca and Brighton over the summer.

A one-off for Qatar? No. Not by a long chalk. Ibrahima Bamba. Italy U21 international. Senior player with VitoriaGuimaraes. And one coveted by Arsenal and Juventus. The 20 year-old centre-half, just as Diaz was moving to Al-Gharafa, agreed to join Coutinho at Hernan Crespo’s Al-Duhail. Again, a major young talent. A player discussed within the halls of Europe’s biggest clubs. Yet he sees a better opportunity for himself in Asian football. It really is happening…

Is it just about money? Perhaps. But is what Edu, Arsenal’s sporting director, can put in front of Bamba really so different to what Al-Duhail tabled him?

And what about motivation? Do a year or two in the QSL before returning to Europe? Perhaps. Or could it be, when that second year is completed, that there is a greater attraction in joining an Al-Ittihad or Al-Nassr in the SPL than a Brighton or Sassuolo in Europe? Is it really so far-fetched that by 2024 or 2025 young players around the world view the QSL as a stepping stone to the SPL, just as they do now the Eredivisie or Ligue 1 for the Premier League?

You can dismiss it. Ignore it. Or actually embrace it. The excitement. The momentum. It’s all coming out of Asia. This shift, well we’re not there yet. But something is definitely happening, it really is…