I am getting tired of this argument. Why the young players need to be in Europe to advance their career? Nowadays, European clubs don't show any sort of respect towards the players, and majority of them are owned by corrupt oligarchs. In the last couple of years, we are witnessing an increasing number of young players moving to Saudi Arabia. Darwin Núñez is not the only one who made the move. In Al Hilal itself we have Yusuf Akçiçek and Mathieu Patouillet. Merih Demiral is representing Al Ahli, and in Al Qadsiah we have Christopher Bonsu Baah, Mateo Retegui and Julián Quiñones.
Not even because of football quality. It's because, if you are a 21 year old kid, and play in lets say Barcelona or Juventus, or Bayern, or whatever big name you can find really, and have a 5-6 year career there, then going to Saudi would make you more money.
Someone who goes to Saudi at 21, would make less money there, compared to someone who had a great career and now 30. Saudis would offer 20 million or something to the 21 year old, but would offer 50+ million to the 30 year old. That is a big reason, plus it is not really smart to spend 10+ years there, why would you, you could spend all your life at bigger and better clubs, making normal salary and win whatever and then you can go to Saudi for 2 seasons and more more all total and that would be enough to retire.