SigningLab · Annual Report

Signing Accuracy — Saudi Pro League 2024/25

Published on January 13, 2025

Executive Summary

209
Real signings
201
Evaluated
42%
Clubs' average hit rate
47
Successful
94
Unsuccessful

In total we identified 209 real signings by the clubs of Saudi Pro League in the 2024/25 season — academy promotions, loan returns, internal moves and transfers that never went through are excluded. Of these, 201 are included in the hit-rate calculation; 8 are youth investments (under-23 with no game time), classified separately. Signings without relevant minutes in the season count as unsuccessful.

Club Ranking

ClubLeague positionSigningsEvaluatedSuccessfulFairUnsuccessfulHit rate %SigningLab*
1Al-Ittihad FC1010712
75%
100%
2Al-Hilal Saudi FC66402
67%
83%
3Al-Ahli Jeddah43201
67%
67%
4Al-Nassr77412
64%
71%
5Al Shabab1211371
59%
100%
6Al Taawon1010262
50%
100%
7Al-Qadisiyah FC2120749
45%
95%
8Al-Fateh10º99324
44%
89%
9Al Riyadh11º1816538
41%
88%
10Al-Fayha13º1110325
40%
100%
11Al-Raed18º44031
38%
100%
12Al Okhdood15º99144
33%
89%
13Al Khaleej Saihat12º98134
31%
100%
14Al Kholood21211911
26%
90%
15Al-Ettifaq1312228
25%
75%
16Al Orubah17º252511014
24%
96%
17Damac14º1010118
15%
90%
18Al Wehda Club16º1010028
10%
90%

* SigningLab: hit rate of SigningLab’s verdicts (recommend or not recommend) on each club’s evaluated signings, projected at the time of signing.

The difference between Signings and Evaluated are youth investments (under-23 with no game time in the season), classified separately. Signings without relevant minutes are unsuccessful (Did not deliver).

Season Highlights

The ten signings with the greatest technical impact of the season, according to the Player Impact Score (PIS).

PlayerClubPosMinG+AAvg ratingRatingSigningLab
Ivan ToneyAl-Ahli JeddahF253323+47.45Excellent
Steven BergwijnAl-Ittihad FCM197513+77.45Excellent
João CanceloAl-Hilal Saudi FCD18160+57.45Excellent
TozéAl RiyadhM27995+47.29Excellent
Julián QuiñonesAl-Qadisiyah FCM244220+57.29Excellent
Abderrazak HamdallahAl ShababF226721+27.38Excellent
Moussa DiabyAl-Ittihad FCM19945+147.48Excellent
Wesley HoedtAl ShababD27895+17.19Excellent
Omar Al-SomahAl OrubahF151111+37.24Excellent
Pierre-Emerick AubameyangAl-Qadisiyah FCF283117+37.46Excellent

Methodology

Club assessment — the universe of signings

The report considers exclusively genuine signings for the first-team squad, identified by the player's effective incorporation into the group between seasons. Excluded from the universe are: academy promotions, loan returns, internal administrative moves and transfers recorded but never completed. The aim is to measure the quality of market decisions — and those alone.

Player Impact Score (PIS)

Each evaluated signing receives a score from 0 to 100 that combines four observable technical dimensions: individual performance (average match ratings over the season), output (goals, assists and decisive actions adjusted for game time), collective performance (starting status and correlation with the club's results) and availability (volume of matches, adjusted for interruptions). High-impact players with reduced game time are promoted through an alternative efficiency criterion.

Outcome classification

The rating tiers are: Excellent and Good (successful signings — a full point in the index), Fair (intermediate performance — half a point) and Below expectations / Did not deliver (unsuccessful signings). Two categories sit outside the calculation, for distinct reasons: Injury (a serious injury prevented a fair assessment) and Investment (an under-23 player with low game time — the return depends on development and cannot be counted for or against the club in this cycle). Signings that did not reach relevant game time in the season are classified as unsuccessful, reflecting the sporting cost of the decision.

A note on scope

This is SigningLab's public, simplified model, developed for transparent retrospective market assessment. SigningLab's commercial solutions for partner clubs use a substantially larger set of variables and dedicated predictive mechanisms, and are not fully reflected in this document.

Appendix — Signings by club

* Youth investment (under-23, no game time in the season) — outside the hit-rate calculation.

Al Khaleej Saihat (9 signings)

PlayerMatchesMinutesGoalsAssistsRating
Kostas Fortounis30257895Excellent
Marcel Tisserand22182400Fair
Dimitrios Kourbelis20159421Fair
Murad Al Hawsawi33146310Below expectations
Abdullah Al-Fahad26139700Below expectations
Saleh Aboulshamat32118316Fair
Khaled Al-Semeiry30117601Below expectations
Raed Ozaybi2681000Did not deliver
Mohammed Alkhaibari *1000Investment

Al Kholood (21 signings)

PlayerMatchesMinutesGoalsAssistsRating
Norbert Gyömbér33295001Fair
Marcelo Grohe32288000Fair
Myziane Maolida342855150Fair
William Troost-Ekong32285421Fair
Aliou Dieng30263530Fair
Alex Collado29258552Good
Kévin N'Doram30246200Below expectations
Jackson Muleka29238475Fair
Abdullah Al-Hawsawi33230704Below expectations
Hamdan Al-Shamrani28209100Fair
Hammam Al-Hammami33180943Fair
Abdulrahman Al-Safri33144111Did not deliver
Mohammed Jahfali2659200Fair
Farhah Ali Alshamrani1749200Did not deliver
Hassan Al-Asmari2435000Did not deliver
Abdulfattah Asiri2132501Below expectations
Mohammed Mazyad Alshammari3118000Did not deliver
Jamaan Al Dawsari1311600Did not deliver
Abdullah Al Rashidi61700Did not deliver
Riyadh Al Ibrahim21600Did not deliver
Abdullah Al-Hawsawi0000Did not deliver

Al Okhdood (9 signings)

PlayerMatchesMinutesGoalsAssistsRating
Christian Bassogog32273261Fair
Petros25208201Good
Knowledge Musona33201453Fair
Damion Lowe23193201Fair
Mohanad Alqaydhi31177410Fair
Mohammed Al Saeed28101600Below expectations
Ibrahima Kone1490831Below expectations
Saleh Al Abbas2969830Did not deliver
Rakan Najjar3322000Did not deliver

Al Orubah (25 signings)

PlayerMatchesMinutesGoalsAssistsRating
Gaëtan Coucke32286300Fair
Karlo Muhar31269701Fair
Ismael Kandouss30256520Fair
Hamed Al-Maghati33228102Fair
Jóhann Guðmundsson28227844Fair
Hussain Al-Showaish30213502Below expectations
Cristian Tello27175053Fair
Ibrahim Al-Zubaidi26175001Fair
Omar Al-Somah171511113Excellent
Kurt Zouma21150910Fair
Fahad Al-Reshedi28140600Did not deliver
Malik Al Shammary30113500Did not deliver
Emmanuel Boateng13107722Fair
Brad Young19106521Did not deliver
Mohammed Al-Qarni28105600Did not deliver
Fwaz Altryes2573002Did not deliver
Osama Al Khalaf1659300Below expectations
Jean Michaël Seri545010Fair
Nawaf Al Qamiri2838401Did not deliver
Zeyad Al-Hunayti935610Below expectations
Mohammed Al-Saiari1632400Did not deliver
Sattam Al-Roqi1723100Did not deliver
Abdulrhman Al Anzi2215700Did not deliver
Hassan Al Salis0000Did not deliver
Turki Al-Mutairi0000Did not deliver

Al Riyadh (18 signings)

PlayerMatchesMinutesGoalsAssistsRating
Milan Borjan33297000Excellent
Tozé32279954Excellent
Ibrahim Bayesh32272952Fair
Lucas Kal30269032Fair
Yoann Barbet31260111Good
Bernard Mensah29231754Excellent
Faïz Selemani28219264Excellent
Marzouq Tambakti33187100Did not deliver
Mohamed Konate27170541Fair
Nawaf Al-Hawsawi3251300Did not deliver
Saud Zidan1633300Below expectations
Talal Abubakr Haji1431510Did not deliver
Swailem Al-Menhali2928900Did not deliver
Nawaf Al-Abed1824901Below expectations
Ziyad Al-Sahafi911100Did not deliver
Rayan Albloushi *209100Investment
Yazeed Al Bakr26300Did not deliver
Abdulaziz Rahma *0000Investment

Al Shabab (12 signings)

PlayerMatchesMinutesGoalsAssistsRating
Wesley Hoedt31278951Excellent
Robert Renan31271103Good
Abderrazak Hamdallah262267212Excellent
Giacomo Bonaventura29225122Fair
Mohammed Al-Thain27213020Fair
Haroune Camara34162763Below expectations
Daniel Podence19141827Fair
Abdullah Al-Mayouf23130500Fair
Mohammed Al Shwirekh26116540Fair
Heorhiy Bushchan1199000Fair
Glen Kamara1396100Fair
Hisham Al Dubais *167500Investment

Al Taawon (10 signings)

PlayerMatchesMinutesGoalsAssistsRating
Fayçal Fajr30226206Excellent
Abdulquddus Atiah32153100Fair
Sultan Mandash32152031Below expectations
Renné Rivas25144711Fair
Fahad Bin Jumayah25141503Fair
Roger Martínez19128952Fair
Muteb Al-Mufarrij20118410Fair
Abdelhamid Sabiri1274721Good
Sultan Farhan3168101Below expectations
Hattan Bahebri2648121Fair

Al Wehda Club (10 signings)

PlayerMatchesMinutesGoalsAssistsRating
Juninho Bacuna32226634Fair
Alexandru Crețu32199513Below expectations
Mohamed Al Makahasi31198511Fair
Youssef Amyn33179342Below expectations
Saad Bguir30135130Below expectations
Ali Al-Salem27120611Did not deliver
Murad Khadhari3340630Did not deliver
Abdulrahman Al-Shammeri1036000Did not deliver
Ahmed Bandar Derwish2134910Below expectations
Ignacio de Arruabarrena218000Did not deliver

Al-Ahli Jeddah (4 signings)

PlayerMatchesMinutesGoalsAssistsRating
Ivan Toney302533234Excellent
Wenderson Galeno1194832Excellent
Alexsander1353301Below expectations
Eid Al Muwallad *1417200Investment

Al-Ettifaq (13 signings)

PlayerMatchesMinutesGoalsAssistsRating
Marek Rodák34306000Good
Madallah Al-Olayan32164211Good
João Costa24143441Below expectations
Abdullah Radif30120931Did not deliver
Ali Mukhtar15107300Fair
Abdulbaset Hindi3291000Below expectations
Abdulelah Al-Malki2784400Below expectations
Josen David Escobar del Duca1239700Fair
Ahmed Bamasud1810800Did not deliver
Abdulaziz Al-Aliwa *286500Investment
Ahmad Al Harbi17000Did not deliver
Marwan Al-Haidari15000Did not deliver
Mashel Ali0000Did not deliver

Al-Fateh (9 signings)

PlayerMatchesMinutesGoalsAssistsRating
Matías Vargas20178474Good
Péter Szappanos17153000Below expectations
Mohamed Amine Sbai26147754Fair
Nawaf Al-Aqidi16144001Excellent
Jorge Fernandes16144000Fair
Zaydou Youssouf16143901Good
Mohammed Al-Konaideri15100600Did not deliver
Naif Masoud2027300Did not deliver
Hussain Qasim1626701Below expectations

Al-Fayha (11 signings)

PlayerMatchesMinutesGoalsAssistsRating
Orlando Mosquera32265801Good
Chris Smalling31264410Good
Faris Abdi32248411Fair
Renzo López30246181Fair
Otabek Shukurov28233101Below expectations
Alejandro Pozuelo30225544Good
Mansour Al Bishi34175701Did not deliver
Ziyad Al-Sahafi1365310Below expectations
Abdulhadi Al-Harajin3135801Did not deliver
Sattam Al-Roqi *1313801Investment
Redha Alabdullah61100Did not deliver

Al-Hilal Saudi FC (6 signings)

PlayerMatchesMinutesGoalsAssistsRating
João Cancelo22181605Excellent
Marcos Leonardo251757172Good
Moteb Al-Harbi2897301Good
Kaio César1376533Good
Mohammed Al-Rubaie1118000Did not deliver
Khalid Al-Ghannam3111700Did not deliver

Al-Ittihad FC (10 signings)

PlayerMatchesMinutesGoalsAssistsRating
Houssem Aouar302502124Good
Predrag Rajković28244700Good
Danilo Pereira26225820Excellent
Moussa Diaby241994514Excellent
Steven Bergwijn251975137Excellent
Abdulelah Al-Amri20132801Good
Hamed Al-Ghamdi3445911Did not deliver
Abduleallah Hawsawi3344200Did not deliver
Saleh Al-Shehri2641241Good
Muath Faqeehi3227201Fair

Al-Nassr (7 signings)

PlayerMatchesMinutesGoalsAssistsRating
Bento34306000Good
Mohamed Simakan26218111Good
Ângelo25137016Good
Jhon Durán13109480Good
Salem Alnajdi32108811Fair
Wesley1142100Below expectations
Ahmad Al Harbi9000Did not deliver

Al-Qadisiyah FC (21 signings)

PlayerMatchesMinutesGoalsAssistsRating
Koen Casteels33297000Good
Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang322831173Excellent
Nacho Fernández32279001Good
Ezequiel Fernández32266213Excellent
Cameron Puertas32260239Good
Gastón Álvarez30255310Fair
Nahitan Nández28249605Good
Julián Quiñones292442205Excellent
Jehad Thakri31240600Fair
Turki Al-Ammar32209946Fair
Ali Hazazi3275510Fair
Mohammed Qassem3170400Below expectations
Husain Al-Monassar3269100Below expectations
Qasim Lajami3459700Below expectations
Ibrahim Mahnashi1729600Did not deliver
Haitham Mohammed Asiri1820900Did not deliver
Ahmed Al-Kassar339000Did not deliver
Abdulrahman Al Dosari324400Did not deliver
Abdullah Hassoun172500Did not deliver
André Carrillo11300Did not deliver
Abdulaziz Rahma *4000Investment

Al-Raed (4 signings)

PlayerMatchesMinutesGoalsAssistsRating
Saleh Al-Amri33270763Fair
Mehdi Abeid30247020Fair
Zakaria Hawsawi21160005Fair
Thamer Al Khaibri2251000Did not deliver

Damac (10 signings)

PlayerMatchesMinutesGoalsAssistsRating
Florin Niță32279000Excellent
Habib Diallo28231273Below expectations
François Kamano30226142Fair
Tariq Mohammed29175400Below expectations
Mohammed Alkhaibari30116800Did not deliver
Hazzaa Al-Ghamdi3177801Did not deliver
Meshari Fahad Al-Nemer3077520Did not deliver
Amin Al-Bukhari2318000Did not deliver
Abdullah Almogren3014300Did not deliver
Abdullah Al-Qahtani199000Did not deliver