Ronaldo, Mitrovic and the players representing the Saudi Pro League at Euro 2024

The cream of European football will be on display over the next month as the 2024 European Championship kicks off on Friday. Hosts Germany take on Scotland at the Allianz Arena in Munich with the final taking place in Berlin on July 14. The quadrennial tournament will feature some of the world's best players, with a surprising amount now playing their club football in Saudi Arabia. Below is a list of players who will represent the Saudi Pro League at Euro 2024. Carrasco's move to Saudi Arabia went relatively unnoticed as the Pro League signaled its intent to make it one of the premier destinations. Carrasco had established himself as a wide player with an eye for goal across two spells at Atletico Madrid that included a Spanish league title and a Europa League winner's medal. Carrasco joined Shabab on a three-year contract for a reported fee of €15 million but the team struggled for early season form and appointed five managers either full-time or on an interim basis. Shabab finished the season eighth in the 18-team league. Carrasco, 30, has 11 goals in 74 caps for Belgium and was a key part of the team that finished third in the 2018 World Cup in Russia. Part of the first wave of high-profile European-based players to make the move to Saudi in 2023 in an unprecedented summer of spending. The holding midfielder, 31, had just played for Inter Milan in the Uefa Champions League final, a 1-0 defeat to Manchester City, before moving to Al Nassr for a reported fee of €18 million. Brozovic made 48 appearances across competitions, scoring five goals, but was unable to help the Riyadh club claim any silverware as they finished second to Al Hilal in the league and lost the King's Cup final to the same opponents on penalties . Has 96 Croatia caps and was part of the team that won silver and bronze medals at the past two World Cups. Integral to Croatia head coach Zlatko Dalic's plans. Won back-to-back Premier League titles with Leicester City and Chelsea and helped the Blues win five FA Cups, the Uefa Champions League, Europa League and the Fifa Club World Cup. Struggled with injuries in his last season at Stamford Bridge but that did not deter Al Ittihad to make the 2018 World Cup winner part of their foreign contingent last summer, signing Kante on a free to play alongside the likes of the reigning Ballon d'Or holder Karim Benzema . Champions in 2022/23, Ittihad finished a disappointing fifth in the recently concluded SPL season, a mammoth 42 points behind champions Al Hilal. Though far from the player of old, Kante impressed over the second half of the season, earning a recall to Didier Deschamps' France squad for the Euros. Likely to play second fiddle to the likes of Aurelian Tchouameni and Eduardo Camavinga in Germany, but, at age 33, Kante's experience and energy will be vital if France fail to click early on. The two-time Georgian footballer of the year earned a reputation as a tough tackling defender during his early career at Rubin Kazan and Lokomotiv Moscow, winning the Russian league and cup respectively. After having his contract terminated at Neftci, Kvirkvelia, 32, signed for provincial Saudi club Al Okhdood on a free transfer. The promoted club defied expectations of an immediate return to the second tier by finishing 15th, three points clear of relegation. Kvirkvelia missed only one league game all season, and his combative displays earned him plaudits from plenty of Saudi commentators. A mainstay during Georgia's qualifying campaign, culminating in their shoot-out success over Greece in the play-off final that saw the county qualify for a first major football tournament. After an underwhelming season at Paris Saint-Germain and an equally unproductive loan at Roma, Wijnaldum sought to reboot his career by joining the Saudi football revolution. The Dutch midfielder answered the call of Al Ettifaq, coached by former Liverpool midfielder Steven Gerrard. There, Wijnaldum linked up with his ex-Liverpool teammate Jordan Henderson, although only briefly, signing on for three years . Wijnaldum, 33, found a new lease of life in Dammam, scoring seven goals in 31 appearances across competitions. A veteran of 93 caps for the Netherlands, Wijnaldum will be part of a senior group of players alongside the likes of Virgil van Dijk, tasked with helping Ronald Koeman's talented but largely untested crop of young players. News of Ronaldo's move to Saudi Arabia on the final day of 2022 caused shockwaves around the world . The Portuguese superstar, Real Madrid's record scorer, the only player to score over 100 goals in three major European leagues, international football's most prolific marksman of all time, had joined Al Nassr. Ronaldo's wages, believed to be in excess of $210 million a year , seemed fitting for a player of his stature, but his acrimonious departure from Manchester United only a few months earlier had some questioning whether Al Nassr had overpaid. The return, in terms of goals, and Ronaldo's impact on Saudi football, more than justified the financials . Ronaldo set a Saudi Pro League record with 35 goals in the recently-concluded season , bettering Abderrazak Hamdallah's previous record by a single strike. Though a first trophy at Nassr still eludes Ronaldo – they finished second in the league and lost the King's Cup final , both times to Al Hilal – the shift in focus on Saudi Arabia owes plenty to Ronaldo's seismic influence. Scored 10 goals to help Portugal qualify for Euro 2024, his tally for his country currently stands at 130 goals. Now 39, Ronaldo still represents Portugal's best chance of securing a second Euros title after their 2016 success. While some critics suggested that a move to the Saudi Pro League offered aging players of pedigree a shot at one final pay day, the argument was countered by Al Hilal's announcement that they had agreed a fee of £47 million with Premier League side Wolves to sign 27-year-old Neves . The Portuguese playmaker had established himself as one of the most creative and hard-working players in the English top flight, qualities that made him an attractive signing for the Saudi giants . Neves never skipped a beat, helping Hilal win the Pro League title by 14 points ahead of Ronaldo's Nassr. Added to that was the King's Cup, thanks to a shoot-out victory over Nassr that left Ronaldo in tears. Neves missed his spot kick in that final, but his influence on Hilal was undiminished. Neves made 54 appearances in total in 2023/23, scoring eight times, and he was part of a Hilal team that set a world record of 34 successive wins. The move to Saudi has not harmed Neves' international prospects, with Portugal coach Roberto Martinez viewing the midfielder as a vital component of his squad. After a successful spell at Romanian giants Cluj, winning three successive league titles from 2019 to 2021, Burca signed a one-year deal with promoted club Al Okhdood for a fee of €1 million. The defender, 31, made 29 appearances in all competitions but his contribution in the opposition box, scoring six goals, was just as telling as the Najran club secured survival and a second-straight season in the Saudi top flight. With 29 caps, Burca will need to show similar resolve and cause problems in the opposition box for Romania to progress from a tricky looking Group E that also features Belgium, Slovakia and Ukraine. After a nomadic career that saw him play for clubs in Scotland, England, Australia, Italy and Belgium, Hendry took up an offer to link up with Steven Gerrard at mid-table Al Ettifaq last summer . The move has benefitted both. Hendry, an imposing centre-back, played all 34 games as Ettifaq finished a respectable fifth in the league, boasting the second meanest defence only behind champions Al Hilal. "I’m really enjoying my football to be honest,” Hendry told The Scotsman back in March. “Gerrard has made me a real focal point in defence and I enjoy that, I enjoy being that kind of leader in the back four." With 34 caps, Hendry is also a leader and focal point for his national team under Steve Clarke, a defender of similar repute during his own playing career. The well-travelled attacking midfielder is in his second stint in Saudi Arabia, having previously represented Al Ahli during a six-month spell in 2019. Stanciu has played for clubs in Romania, Belgium, Czech Republic and China and signed a two-year contract to join Damac last summer. Damac finished 10th in the Pro League, a far cry from the fifth-placed finish they achieved in 2022 and a downgrade on their eighth-placed finish in 2023. Versatile and able to play on either wing as well as at the tip of midfield, Stanciu played 29 times across competitions for Damac but he has so far failed to live up to comparisons with his compatriot, Gheorghe Hagi, Romania's greatest ever player. Captained his country in all 10 of their Euro 2024 qualifiers as they topped the group undefeated. After eight years in Italy with Lazio, Milinkovic-Savic agreed to join Riyadh giants Al Hilal, signing a three-year deal for a reported transfer fee of $44 million . Much like the arrival of Ruben Neves, Hilal were signing one of Europe's leading lights in his prime. Technically gifted and with an eye for goal – 14 goals in 49 appearances attests to that – Milinkovic-Savic, 29, was one of the mainstays as Hilal swept all before them domestically, ending his first season at the club with a league and cup double. Now 29, the Euros feels the ideal platform for Milinkovic-Savic to stamp his mark on a major tournament. His link-up and understanding with Aleksandar Mitrovic was key to Hilal's success, and if they can replicate the same for Serbia, they could be dark horses in Germany. While the signings of Karim Benzema, Sadio Mane and Neymar may have grabbed the bulk of the headlines, none of them even came close to the success Mitrovic, 29, enjoyed in his debut campaign. The Serbian striker, signed from Fulham for a club record fee of £50 million, scored on his first competitive outing in a 4-0 win over Al Raed and backed that up with another strike in a 3-1 win over Al Ettifaq. And Mitrovic never really stopped. He bagged a hat-trick in a 4-3 win over Al Ittihad , and another in the Asian Champions League against Mumbai. Mitrovic scored 28 league goals in as many appearances and 40 in 43 appearances in total, winning the league, King's Cup and Saudi Super Cup in his first season. Mitrovic's importance to Serbia is just as potent. His 58 goals in 91 caps make him Serbia's all-time leading scorer. Few players are heading to the Euros off the back of such a stunning season. Part of Manchester City's treble-winning squad in 2022/23 , defender Laporte bucked the trend of mostly high-profile midfielders and forwards moving to Saudi Arabia. Laporte signed for Al Nassr after five-and-a-half years at City, during which he won five Premier League titles, three League Cups, two FA Cups, and the Uefa Champions League. The stylish centre-back chipped in with four goals as Nassr finished runners-up in the league and King's Cup but his red card in the Asian Champions League quarter-final first leg defeat to Al Ain proved costly. The Garden City club won the home leg 1-0 but Laporte's suspension for the second leg was telling as they conceded three goals before being eliminated on penalties . Having represented France at every level up to under-21, Laporte switched allegiances to Spain ahead of Euro 2020 and now has 29 caps. Spain, back-to-back winners of the Euros in 2008 and 2012, go into the tournament largely under the radar, but in Laporte they have one of the most accomplished defenders in the tournament. Physically imposing and uncompromising, Demiral moved to Al Ahli on a three-year contract following two successful seasons at Atalanta. Able to operate at centre-back and right-back, injuries restricted Demiral to only 21 appearances in total, and Ahli could only finish third in the Pro League, a whopping 31 points behind champions Al Hilal. Compared to Nemanja Vidic and Giorgio Chiellini, a former teammate at Juventus, Demiral will be keen to make up for a poor showing at Euro 2020, when Turkey finished bottom of their group on the back of three defeats where they conceded eight goals.

Ronaldo, Mitrovic and the players representing the Saudi Pro League at Euro 2024

Plenty of players who ply their trade in the kingdom will be on display in Germany