Manchester City striker Riyad Mahrez has joined Saudi club Al-Ahli, the two teams confirmed on Friday, becoming the latest big-name star to be enticed by the Gulf state’s cash-rich league.
The 32-year-old Algerian winger joins Pep Guardiola’s team from Leicester in 2018, where he won 11 major championships.
“The wait is over: Riyad is real,” the Saudi Pro League club said in a social media post.
City agreed a fee understood to be worth up to £30 million ($38.6 million) with Al-Ahli last week.
“To play for Manchester City has been an honour and privilege,” Mahrez told City’s website.
“I came to City to win trophies and enjoy my football and I achieved all that and so much more.
“I have had five unforgettable years with this football club, working with unbelievable players, fantastic supporters, and the best manager in the world.”
City’s director of football Txiki Begiristain paid tribute to the Algeria star.
“There are few wingers that possess his levels of skill and technique in world football, and he will be missed, but everyone will wish him all the best as he begins a new chapter in his career,” he said.
Liverpool and Al-Ettifaq confirmed on Thursday that Reds’ captain Jordan Henderson was moving to the Saudi league.
Karim Benzema of France left Real Madrid to join Al-Ittihad, following in the footsteps of his former Real Madrid teammate Cristiano Ronaldo, who now plays for Al-Nassr.
Other Premier League players who have relocated to Saudi Arabia include Chelsea’s N’Golo Kante and Henderson’s former Liverpool teammate Roberto Firmino.
Saudi Arabia’s extravagant expenditure on sports is sometimes criticized as “sportswashing” – an attempt to divert attention away from the country’s record on human rights.
Last year, the conservative monarchy executed 81 people in a single day, criminalizes homosexuality, and sparked international outrage when journalist Jamal Khashoggi was murdered in the Saudi consulate in Istanbul in 2018.