Top players the Champions League lost to Saudi Arabia Part one

The Premier League was the biggest in the world economically, while playing in the Champions League was the dream for most footballers, but is that still the case?

The Saudi Pro League is beginning to prove that it will beat the reputation of England's top flight after their charm offensive has helped them sign some of the world's top players.

When Cristiano Ronaldo agreed to play for Al Nassr after the 2022 FIFA World Cup as the highest-paid footballer in the world, we all thought it was a one-off.

The country needed to raise the profile of their league, and Ronaldo is arguably the most popular footballer in the world, so after winning five Champions League trophies, the man who made fans buy Champions League tickets took an offer that pays him £200m per annum.

He has since opened the door for more players to move to Saudi Arabia, ending the stigma of moving to the competition for money.

This is yet another proof that Ronaldo is indeed one of the biggest players the game has ever had and arguably it's most influential in the last few decades.

Since he moved to the Saudi Pro League, several more players have joined him, and the biggest loser seem to be the UEFA Champions League.

When Steven Gerrard became the manager of Al-Ettifaq, we were all afraid for the worse, and there have been more stunning moves to the Saudi top flight, and who can blame the players for accepting the money on offer?

This article looks at some players that the Champions League has lost to the competition.

Fabinho, Liverpool, 1 Champions League trophy 

Fabinho's switch to Al-Ittihad was one of the shocking moves to Saudi Arabia in this transfer window, as the midfielder is still 29 and had three years left on his Liverpool contract.

Previously, we had thought the Saudis were targeting older players who they could sign for free, and these individuals moved there because it offered them one more last payday.

However, Fabinho accepted a move there and left Liverpool after playing a key role for them in the run-up to winning the 2019 Champions League.

He had joined them that season and became the engine room of that Liverpool team, and his departure has left the Reds exposed and struggling to find a replacement for him in this transfer window.

Liverpool also reached the final of the Champions League in 2022, with him as one of their key players, as Jurgen Klopp's men nearly won the quadruple.

N'Golo Kante, Chelsea, 1 Champions League trophy

Kante was one of the best midfielders in Europe since he helped Leicester City secure a surprising Premier League title in the 2015/2016 campaign.

The midfielder moved to Chelsea the following season and won another Premier League crown with the Blues.

He remained there until he switched to Al-Ittihad in this transfer window, but that was after he helped Chelsea to win the Champions League in 2021.

Kante is one of the finest midfielders we have watched in Europe's premier club competition, so losing him is a major blow to the competition.

Karim Benzema, Real Madrid, 5 Champions League titles

Karim Benzema is one of the best strikers the Champions League has ever had, and the Frenchman would be missed sorely by fans of the competition.

At 35, we can understand why he accepted an offer that makes him the second highest-paid footballer on the planet after Cristiano Ronaldo.

The Frenchman won five Champions League crowns with Real Madrid and was the highest scorer in the competition in the 2021/2022 campaign.

He scored 15 times in 12 Champions League games as Real Madrid won that season's edition.

He leaves the competition after scoring 78 goals in 133 UCL games for Real Madrid and 90 goals overall. 

Cristiano Ronaldo, Real Madrid, Manchester United, Juventus, 5 Champions League titles

Cristiano Ronaldo is arguably the most decorated player in Champions League history and the biggest player the competition has lost to the Saudi Pro League.

The attacker won his first title on the books of Manchester United in 2008 after they defeated Chelsea in the final.

At the end of the following season, he moved to Real Madrid to help Los Blancos continue their dominance of competition, where he won four more titles.

He also played for Juventus in the competition, being one of the most travelled top players we have seen in Europe.

As we have discussed before, Ronaldo is the player who opened the door for others to discover the Saudi Pro League, and he has been an influential figure in the development of the game in the Middle Eastern country.

Sadio Mane, Liverpool and Bayern Munich, 1 Champions League trophy

Mane left Liverpool as a hero and moved to Bayern Munich last season, with the Germans happy to have landed one of the biggest talents in the world.

The move happened on the back of Liverpool losing the Champions League final to Real Madrid in 2022.

Mane was a member of the fantastic three that Jurgen Klopp developed at Anfield alongside Roberto Firmino and Mo Salah.

The Senegalese star played on the left of the Reds' attack in the setup and was their best player in the 2018 and 2022 finals, where they faced Real Madrid.

Liverpool won the Champions League in 2019 after beating Tottenham in the final, after goals from Salah and Divock Origi.

He had a hand in the first goal as his pass struck the hand of Moussa Sissoko for the penalty, which Salah converted.

The Senegal star scored ten goals in 13 matches in the 2017/2018 Champions League campaign for Liverpool and ended his time in the competition with 27 goals for Liverpool and Bayern Munich.

Jordan Henderson, Liverpool, 1 Champions League trophy

Jordan Henderson is arguably one of the most underrated Liverpool captains ever, but the Reds will miss the Englishman after he joined Steven Gerrard at Al-Ettifaq.

His switch to the Saudi Pro League was one of the most surprising because we had expected the midfielder to stay with the Reds for much longer than now.

Henderson had two seasons left on his contract at Liverpool and was one of the highest-paid players at the club, so he did not have to leave.

He did and now works with Gerrard, but he would be a big miss for the Champions League.

He was a key part of Liverpool's success under Jurgen Klopp and captained the club to win their first Champions League since 2005 in 2019, as well as ended their three decades wait to win the Premier League again.

Henderson was also pivotal in the run to the final of the 2018 and 2022 Champions League finals, so he is a player that we never saw leaving.

The Champions League's loss is the Saudi League's gain, and more footballers will likely quit the top European clubs to move there.

However, there is no guarantee that the money will continue to pour into that league, and we are all too familiar with how things changed in China when they started pumping money into their league to lure the best talents from Europe.

We will cover more players that the Champions League has lost to the Saudi Pro League in our next piece.