By Kieran Maguire

12th Sep, 2023 | 5:19pm

Kieran Maguire: Liverpool guaranteed £52m Saudi payment after behind-closed-doors twist

Liverpool and other European clubs should have no worries about the Saudi Pro League honouring their transfer payments.

That is the view of finance expert Kieran Maguire, who spoke exclusively to Football Insider about growing concerns over Saudi Arabia paying transfer fees to European clubs.

As reported by The Guardian, a number of European clubs raised concerns behind closed doors at the European Club Association general assembly regarding Saudi spending.

Clubs are seeking guarantees that they will receive transfer payments in full from Saudi Pro League clubs after their increased level of spending this summer.

Saudi clubs spent a staggering £753million on new signings in the summer window, £52million of which was spent on Liverpool duo Fabinho and Jordan Henderson.

However, Maguire is confident that Saudi clubs will ensure all transfer payments are honoured in order to not ruin their nation’s chances of hosting a World Cup in future years.

“Clubs in Saudi Arabia will be under pressure to ensure that all signings and payments are made appropriately,” Maguire told Football Insider’s Sean Fisher.

“They are fully aware that their proposal to host the World Cup in 2030 or 2034 is being considered.

“Given that Fifa monitors all outstanding international transfer debts, it would look very poor if there were a significant number of clubs from the Saudi Pro League who had not honoured their financial commitments.

“So I don’t see this as being an issue going forwards.

“The metrics and optics of failing to pay would look so bad that it could potentially scupper a Saudi World Cup bid.“

In other news, Liverpool doing due diligence on January Bakoyoko deal