At this time I cannot agree to saying the Saudi Arabia pro league is a top league already, they had a very good representation from Al-Hilal and that is an obvious fact as seen in the tournament but they had a few of other representations that crashed out so soon, so it is even better to see that as an individual team effort that felt like a representation of the league, they still have a lot to do to fix the league and buying of quality players is one of it and until then, I still regard them as an average league but with progressive improvement actually.
They pay Ronaldo well because he's not only a good player, but also a global promoter of the league.
They prefer this league because it offers good pay for established star players. Perhaps in 3-5 years, younger players will join the league as well.
The Arabs are very wealthy due to their oil resources, and if they continue like this, they will make this league one of the leading leagues in Europe.
I think Al Hilal also did quite well in the FIFA Club World Cup.
They are paying Ronaldo, to get more viewers and get more players, that is for sure. I know that it is not going to be easy to handle all of this, but the reality is that Ronaldo is getting paid a lot, and while Saudi league has a lot of money, they prefer to buy players who are free agents, for a lot of money. Maybe it is a religious thing, I am not sure, but they do not pay a ton of transfer fee, not that they never pay, they do, just not that common.
Majority of the players are players who are free agents, and then they pay a ton of money. Some young players came in too, they got paid a lot, and even some went back to Europe. Latest was Duran, next to Ronaldo, who played at Al Nassr, and now back to Fenerbahce to play in Europe.