The Saudi Pro League will be able to continue raiding Premier League clubs for three weeks after the transfer window in England closes.
N'Golo Kante and Ruben Neves have both completed mega-money moves to the Middle Eastern country this month, following in the footsteps of Cristiano Ronaldo. That has led to panic among some top-flight teams, with the top four Saudi teams backed by the country's sovereign wealth fund.
That means they can offer fees such as the £47million Al-Hilal will pay to Wolves for Neves. Chelsea stars Kalidou Kouliabaly, Edouard Mendy and Hakim Ziyech are all expected to leave Stamford Bridge for the Pro League in the coming weeks.
The drain of Premier League stars is likely to continue throughout the summer window. And there is a huge risk that the English clubs will be unable to replace their departing players towards the end of the summer.
That is because the Pro League's transfer window will close three weeks after the Premier League's. English teams will be unable to sign any players after 1 September, when the window slams shut.
But the Pro League's window does not close until 20 September, allowing Saudi teams an extra 19 days to raid Premier League teams. The Middle Eastern state is showing no signs of slowing down its new transfer strategy.
Romelu Lukaku, Bernardo Silva and Son Heung-min have all also been offered huge wages to move. Those approaches have been turned down, with calls now growing louder for increased scrutiny on transfer deals taking places to Saudi.
HAVE YOUR SAY! Should restrictions be placed on Premier League players moving to the Saudi Por League? Comment below.
Liverpool legend Jamie Carragher has admitted he is now growing worried about the level of spending. The former defender singled out the approaches for Silva and Neves as being the most concerning.
"Bernardo Silva is in his peak years & has been one of the best players in Europe for the last five years! I wasn’t worried about the Saudi League taking players in their 30’s," Carragher tweeted.
"A touch worried with players below the elite (Neves) but if this happens it feels like a game changer. Saudi have taken over Golf, the big Boxing fights & now they want to take over football!!This sports washing needs to be stopped!"
Carragher's colleague at Sky Sports, Gary Neville has also made an intervention. The former Manchester United captain believes transfers between Saudi Arabia and Premier League teams should be immediately halted.
"The Premier League should put an instant embargo on transfers to Saudi Arabia to ensure the integrity of the game isn't being damaged. Checks should be made on the appropriateness of the transactions," Neville told BBC Sport.
"If it comes through that process, obviously transfers could open up again. But I do believe, at this moment in time, transfers should be halted until you look into the ownership structure at Chelsea and whether there are beneficial transfer dealings that are improper."
