Saudi Arabian money has changed the dimension of the transfer market in recent years – but not every player offered eye-watering contracts has opted to move to the kingdom.
After Cristiano Ronaldo moved to the Saudi Pro League at the end of 2022, Saudi Arabian clubs have successfully recruited a number of high-profile European footballers such as Karim Benzema, N'Golo Kante, Neymar and Moussa Diaby.
So we've identified seven high-profile footballers who turned down a move to Saudi Arabia and opted to play elsewhere.
Rashford was made available for transfer by Manchester United in January 2025 and has reportedly rejected three approaches from Saudi Pro League clubs as he looks to revive his career.
The 27-year-old wanted to preserve his chances of an England recall and hopes to attract the attention of the Premier League and top European clubs.
Al-Nassr had already picked up the likes of Seko Fofana and Marcelo Brozovic in 2023 before setting their sights on Dembele.
The winger then had only one year left at Barcelona due to his contract at Camp Nou and a move to Saudi Arabia seemed feasible at one point.
However, according to Foot Mercato, the winger has turned down a five-year contract worth £35 million per season from Al-Nassr. For context, that's around £673,000 a week he turned down to stay in Spain.
Dembele is now inconsistently brilliant at PSG.
Vardy outright rejected a move to Saudi Arabia after several clubs, including Khaleej FC, expressed interest in signing the Leicester forward following Foxes' 2023 relegation.
The experienced striker apparently viewed a move to the Gulf state as a non-starter for him and his family and instead fired Leicester back to the top at the first attempt.
Messi ultimately chose Inter Miami, but for a while it looked like moving to Saudi Arabia would make him the highest-paid athlete of all time.
Al-Hilal offered the seven-time Ballon d'Or winner a staggering deal worth a reported £1 billion, which would certainly have shocked Cristiano Ronaldo.
But the greatest player of his generation chose to move to America in an attempt to enjoy his 'daily life' more than he did in Paris.
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Al-Hilal, who signed Ronaldo and Benzema within months of each other, targeted another Real Madrid legend to maintain their status as one of the top clubs in Saudi Arabia.
They offered Modric £171m to play in the Saudi Pro League for three seasons, but the evergreen Croatian international decided to stay in Madrid as his family were based there.
Busquets announced he would leave Barcelona in May 2023 after a glittering career with the Spanish giants. Combined with his exploits with the Spanish national team, the midfielder has won every award there is in the modern game.
And it was widely reported that one of the four Saudi clubs owned by PIF was very keen to bring Busquets to the country.
But like his former Barcelona teammate Messi, he opted for a move to Inter Miami, where they were soon joined by Jordi Alba and Luis Suarez.
Lukaku, who spent the 2022/23 season on loan at Inter Milan, was offered a £21 million-a-year contract by Al-Hilal. Reports also suggested that the striker had already met with club officials to discuss a move.
However, the Belgium international seemed unenthusiastic despite his reluctance to return to Chelsea and decided to move to Roma on loan instead.
According to transfer expert Nicolo Schira, Giroud was also approached with an “important offer” from an unnamed club in Saudi Arabia in 2023.
But France's record goalscorer, who spent six years at Arsenal and a further three at Chelsea in the Premier League, turned them down because he wanted to continue playing in Europe.
Giroud left the old continent a year later and moved to LAFC in the United States.
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