The 2026-27 Saudi Pro League season is now well under way and the latest influx of talent is already influencing the title race. This summer’s recruitment was concentrated on investing heavily in established internationals still in their prime. Several of the most expensive arrivals have wasted little time in justifying their price tags while others have faced criticism.
Al Hilal lead the standings on 21 points, two clear of Al Qadsiah and defending champions Al Nassr. Below, we take a look at how the competition’s latest wave of imports have performed.
Gabriel Martinelli (Al Hilal)
English Premier League side Arsenal recorded their record sale when Martinelli signed for Al Hilal in September for £60 million, with the Brazilian highlighting his pride at joining a club that countryman Neymar played for.
Martinelli, though, will clearly be hoping for a far more successful stint at Hilal than the former Barcelona and Paris Saint-Germain attacker, who had his contract terminated after an injury-ravaged 18 months in Riyadh.
After a subdued debut off the bench against Al Shabab, Martinelli conceded he might need “some time to adapt” to his new surroundings having been with the Gunners since 2019.
Those concerns appeared to be unfounded as the 25-year-old bagged a hat-trick little over a week later as Hilal demolished Al Taawoun 6-0, ending his seven-month goal drought. He then opened the scoring in the Saudi Clasico win over Al Ittihad on Saturday, taking his league tally to four in four appearances.
“He’s a big player and we are lucky to have Martinelli,” manager Simone Inzaghi noted after Tuesday’s 2-0 AFC Champions League win at Al Sadd.
Tijjani Reijnders (Al Qadsiah)
Reijnders was honest about his motives after completing a £52m move from Manchester City. “Me a money grabber? I can't deny that,” he said. “By signing this contract, I can make sure even my grandchildren are financially secure, so why wouldn’t I do it?”
Qadsiah manager Brendan Rodgers has given him the box-to-box role he prefers and he responded by scoring in his first start in the 2-0 win over Neom. The 28-year-old then scored a double in the 3-2 defeat of Al Ahli at the beginning of September and opened the scoring in Friday’s 5-0 victory over Al Kholood.
Three of his four league goals have come from outside the box, more than any other player in the SPL this season.
Crysencio Summerville (Al Hilal)
Summerville joined in a £60m switch from West Ham United who had just been relegated to English football's second tier.
The 24-year-old's first goal arrived against Al Khaleej in his third appearance when he scored the fourth goal with a dinked finish as Hilal ran out 5-1 winners. Summerville also supplied his first two assists in that game.
He was on target again the following week, this time driving home a low finish from a tight angle and also scored a fine winner against Al Ittihad. Summerville has registered three goals and three assists in eight league appearances.
Samu Costa (Al Nassr)
Al Nassr signed Costa from Mallorca for €22m at the request of new coach Ange Postecoglou, with the 25-year-old Portuguese midfielder recruited to replace Marcelo Brozovic.
He was bought to give the reigning champions greater energy in midfield but his early performances have attracted criticism.
Speaking on TV, former Al Nassr defender Hussein Abdulghani called the signing of Costa “disastrous”, and dismissed comparisons with Brozovic, claiming Cristiano Ronaldo had encouraged management to sign his countryman.
But it has not all been bad with Costa scoring three times in seven SPl appearances, including Friday's 3-0 win over Diriyah, while it was his cross that Anvar Gofurov turned into his own net to seal a 3-1 Champions League win over Neftchi on Monday.
Francisco Trincao (Al Ahli)
Former Barcelona attacker Trincao insisted “the passion of Al Ahli supporters was one of the main reasons” he moved to the Jeddah club in a €40m deal from Sporting.
But passionate fans are also demanding and the player tasked with replacing the much-loved Riyad Mahrez has struggled at times as Marino Pusic’s side lost three of their opening six games.
But the 26-year-old Portuguese appears to be finding his feet, scoring four times in his last four SPL matches, including a double against Al Fateh on Friday that earned him the man-of-the-match award. Trincao then scored one and supplied another as back-to-back Asian title winners Al Ahli defeated UAE outfit Al Wasl 3-1 in Dubai in the Champions League three days later.
Ollie Watkins (Al Hilal)
Al Hilal forked out £50m to Aston Villa for England striker Watkins who the club had been monitoring since last season, according to Inzaghi.
The 30-year-old scored on his debut against Al Ahli and was delighted by the reception he was given. “The fans were calling my name. From minute one, it was amazing,” he said. He later described Saudi football as being of “Premier League quality”.
Watkins has already registered five goals and four assists from his six appearances for Hilal and played a role in all three goals in their 3-2 win over Al Ittihad. He was on target again on Tuesday after opening the scoring in Tuesday's win away to Qatari side Al Sadd.
