August 01, (THEWILL) – Liverpool manager Jurgen Klopp has urged football authorities to address the late closure of the transfer window in the Saudi Arabia league, expressing his concerns that it may have a detrimental effect on European clubs.
Speaking in Singapore ahead of his team’s pre-season friendly against Bayern Munich, Klopp said: “The influence of Saudi Arabia? We will see. I don’t know. At the moment it looks like they have quite an influence, it is massive. I think that pretty much the worst thing is that the transfer window in Saudi Arabia is open for three weeks longer. If I am right, I heard something like that. Then, at least in Europe, that’s not helpful. So UEFA and FIFA must find solutions for that.”
Bayern Munich manager Thomas Tuchel also commented on the rising influence of Saudi football, drawing parallels with the Chinese Super League’s past situation: “I’m just observing the situation, which is a very new situation. It’s maybe a bit similar to the situation when China started their league. It’s kind of a similar gold rush there, and we’re experiencing the next league which tries to become more popular, more famous, and tries to build a brand by signing a lot of quality players and coaches. It’s a completely new situation and a bit too early for me to have a clear opinion. So I’m an observer, a surprised observer.”
Both managers stressed the need for football authorities, including UEFA and FIFA, to find solutions to the discrepancy in transfer window closures between Europe and Saudi Arabia. The three-week difference in closure dates could potentially put European clubs at a disadvantage when it comes to finding suitable replacements.
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Jude Obafemi is a versatile senior Correspondent at THEWILL Newspapers, excelling in sourcing, researching, and delivering sports news stories for both print and digital publications.
