Real Madrid manager Carlo Ancelotti has joked that he would not need to think twice about accepting an offer to manage in Saudi Arabia if he were to be given the same sort of deal as Spanish golfer Jon Rahm.
The Basque has accepted an offer to join the Saudi golf tour, leaving the PGA, on a deal that is believed to be worth €500m over the course of four years. The journalist during Ancelotti’s press conference could barely get the question out before Ancelotti confirmed he would take that deal.
“On foot. On foot. I’m walking, I don’t need to take a flight. It’s a joke….”
“The world is changing. And it will change. It’s no surprise to anyone. Jon Rahm is very good. I’m not a golf expert, but Jon Rahm seems to me to be the best of all.”
He was also asked if they had been in contact with him.
“No, they have not called me and I live in the present. The present is very good.”
He was asked if he would consider moving to the Middle East, were the money there.
“I have another idea that is not that right now. I have never looked at money, because I grew up in a family in which money was not important. And the truth is that I have money. For me the important thing is to feel good, it could be that one day I will feel good in Saudi Arabia, but for now, I feel good here.”
Following the surprise exit of Karim Benzema to Saudi Arabia, Europe’s elite have largely profited off the Saudi transfer drive, inflating fees and offloading players in order to aid their own finances. If Saudi Arabia becomes a real threat in terms of players for top clubs, then it could see football shift into global competition at the top level, rather than just in Europe.
