Saudi Pro League Midfield Overhaul: Al-Nassr, Al-Ahli, and Al-Ittihad
In a league obsessed with star power, the quiet revolution this summer has come in the middle of the pitch. The Saudi Pro League’s heavyweights have ripped out their midfields and started again – except one. And that might decide the title race before a ball is even kicked.
Life After Brozovic: Al-Nassr’s New Nerve Centre
For the first time since 2023, Al-Nassr walk into a new season without Marcelo Brozovic. That’s not just a missing name on the teamsheet; it’s the loss of the man who stitched their entire game together.
Brozovic was the pivot. The outlet from the back. The metronome who decided when Al-Nassr sped up and when they took the sting out of games. His departure leaves more than a gap – it leaves a question.
Samu Costa is the answer the club have chosen.
Al-Nassr look set to reshape their midfield around him, with Abdullah Al-Khaibari and Angelo expected to flank the anticipated arrival of the Portuguese. The idea is clear: rebuild a unit that can actually balance the dirty work with the creative spark, rather than leaning on one man to do almost everything in the first phase of play.
Can that trio reproduce Brozovic’s authority, his calm under pressure, his ability to drag the ball out from deep and set the tempo? That’s the gamble. Al-Nassr aren’t just changing personnel; they’re changing personality.
Al-Ahli Tear It Up and Start Again
Al-Ahli have chosen the same path of upheaval.
Franck Kessié, a fixture since 2023 and one of the team’s most influential figures in recent seasons, has gone. His presence gave Al-Ahli bite, drive and a reliable reference point in midfield. Removing him is not a tweak. It’s a reset.
Into that void steps Eduard Spertsyan, the new face expected to carry part of the creative load. He’ll line up alongside Ivorian midfielder Valentin Atangana, with the club still active in the market for yet another option in that area.
This isn’t a like-for-like swap. Al-Ahli are not trying to build “Kessié 2.0”. They’re redistributing responsibility across the middle of the park, reshaping roles to suit the demands of a new coaching staff and the club’s ambitions both domestically and in continental competition.
Next season, Al-Ahli’s midfield will not just look different on paper. It will feel different on the pitch.
Al-Ittihad’s African Core and a New Tactical Chapter
Then there is Al-Ittihad, who have made perhaps the boldest break with the past.
The Fabinho era is over. The Brazilian, a cornerstone since 2023, has been moved on, and with that decision an entire tactical chapter closes. In his place comes Dion Lopy from Almeria, a Senegalese midfielder tasked with anchoring a very different-looking engine room.
Lopy will operate alongside Malian Mohamed Doumbia and Algerian Houssem Aouar, giving Al-Ittihad’s midfield a distinctly African identity. It’s a trio that promises power, aggression in the duels and the technical quality to play through pressure.
The club’s hope is simple: more balance. Where Fabinho once sat as the single reference point, Al-Ittihad now want a blend – ball-winning, physical presence, and enough craft to connect with the forwards without leaving the back door open.
Fabinho’s exit closes a familiar, conservative phase. Lopy’s arrival signals something new, something more dynamic. The system around him will have to change to match.
While Others Rebuild, Al-Hilal Stay Standing
Amid the churn and the uncertainty, one club stands almost untouched.
Al-Hilal have watched their rivals tear up their midfields and start from scratch. They haven’t felt the need. Ruben Neves, Sergej Savic, Mohamed Kanno and Nasser Al-Dawsari remain in place, the spine of a side that already knows exactly how it wants to play.
That continuity is gold.
Neves dictates, Savic drives, Kanno covers ground and stitches phases together, Al-Dawsari offers versatility and understanding. It’s a core built on experience and shared minutes, not just big names on a graphic.
While Al-Nassr, Al-Ahli and Al-Ittihad spend the opening weeks searching for their best combinations, learning each other’s runs and habits under real pressure, Al-Hilal can start at full speed. No bedding-in period. No tactical experiments under the glare of early-season results.
In a league where everyone else has chosen chaos, stability might be the sharpest weapon of all.
