Saudis don’t play by same rules as rest of football – Prem needs to wake up to reality of desert storm blowing its way

IT’S transfer deadline day in Europe but there will be no yellow bar flashing across the Saudi equivalent of Sky Sports.

Because football’s nouveau very riche aren’t playing by the same rules as the rest of the game.

They don’t have any Financial Fair Play for starters, their players don’t have to pay tax and most of their top clubs share the same owner.

So it should hardly come as a major surprise to learn that the Saudi Pro League will still be buying and selling long after the rest of the world has closed for business.

No one is even certain when their window shuts. Fifa thinks it’s September 20 while the Saudi Federation suggests it might be September 7.

Either way, it’s  a worry for Europe’s top coaches, sweating on the prospect of their clubs getting an offer they can’t refuse in the coming days.

Jurgen Klopp insists there is no chance of Liverpool selling Mo Salah to Al-Ittihad but can he be certain the owners won’t be tempted by around £150million for the 31-year-old striker?

And what about Salah himself? He has won everything the English game can offer in six years on Merseyside and now has a chance to pocket more than £1m per week in wages.

Jordan Henderson, Fabinho and Bobby Firmino already emptied their Anfield lockers for Saudi Arabia.

So why wouldn’t Egypt international Salah, a devout Muslim who has  visited the holy city of Mecca, not fancy joining them?

And it’s not as if Liverpool are the only club affected. Many European giants have lost players to the Saudis this summer — to teams most of us had never heard of a year ago.

The Premier League remains football’s biggest spender, for now, but the Saudis have already splashed more cash than the Italians, Germans, French and Spanish this window.

Their trolley dash will likely continue in the coming days when they have a free run of the transfer market.

With Gianni Infantino cosying up to his new pal Mohammed bin Salman, there seems little chance of Fifa addressing that soon.

This year’s Club World Cup is in Jeddah and it’s a matter of time before the Saudis are also hosting the World Cup finals.

Roberto Mancini has just quit as Italy boss to take the Saudi national job, becoming the highest-paid manager in the world.

Meanwhile, Cristiano Ronaldo, Neymar and Karim Benzema are earning more money than they will ever be able to spend while strolling around half-empty stadiums.

Yet Prem chief executive Richard Masters continues to dismiss the threat to his organisation’s status as the biggest league in the world.

Time to wake up to the reality of the desert storm blowing his way.