Saud Abdulhamid to Roma - which other Gulf players have moved to Europe?

The confirmation of Saudi Arabia national team right-back Saud Abdulhamid’s move to Roma last week was a significant moment in the Kingdom’s football history. Abdulhamid, who starred for Al Hilal last season as the club won a domestic Treble, will become the first Saudi to play in Italy’s prestigious Serie A - one of the world’s best leagues.

Abdulhamid’s switch to Europe brings a level of vindication for the Saudi Pro League’s substantial outlay over the past 18 months, with the Kingdom welcoming some of the globe’s biggest stars in a bid to improve Saudi Arabia’s football landscape.

Playing alongside the likes of Neymar, Ruben Neves, Kalidou Koulibaly and Sergej Milinkovic-Savic has clearly hastened the progress of Abdulhamid from precocious talent to one of Saudi Arabia’s most technically accomplished players. Now he faces the challenge of breaking into Roma’s first-team and demonstrating to the Giallorossi that he can be a regular in its XI.

Abdulhamid’s move could be a sliding doors moment for football in the Kingdom and the wider Gulf, which has sent players overseas before but with neither regularity nor substantial success.

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Here, Al Arabiya English highlights the Gulf players who made the move to Europe before Abdulhamid.

Sami Al-Jaber (Saudi Arabia) - Wolves

Given he is second on the list of all-time international scorers for Saudi Arabia and the seventh highest scorer in Saudi Pro League history, it is no surprise that prolific forward Al-Jaber attracted the interest of European sides - most notably when he was his goal-getting zenith in the late 1990s.

Still it came as a shock to fans of Wolverhampton Wanderers when Al-Jaber, who at the time was the youngest player to reach 100 international caps - aged 25, made the move from Al Hilal to the English First Division (now known as The Championship) in 2000. Al-Jaber’s loan switch saw him make five appearances for Wolves and the club was keen to sign him permanently.

“We have been very impressed by what we have seen so far,” Wolves coach Colin Lee said at the time.

“He is very skillful and will be an interesting player to have at the club.” However, Al-Jaber’s spell in England was cut short after his father became unwell; the striker returned to the Gulf and spent the remainder of his career at Al Hilal, where he remains a club legend.

Ali Al-Habsi (Oman) - Lyn Oslo, Bolton, Wigan, Brighton, Reading, West Brom

The face of Gulf football in Europe for more than a decade, Al-Habsi blazed a trail for those after him after becoming a cult hero in English football thanks to spells at Bolton Wanderers, Wigan Athletic, Brighton, Reading and West Brom. It was with Wigan that Al-Habsi truly starred, becoming the first Arab player from the Gulf to win the English FA Cup, the oldest knockout football competition in the world, after victory over Manchester City in the 2013 final.

Al-Habsi first arrived in Europe after moving from Omani team Al-Nasr to Norway’s Lyn Oslo but after three years, the goalkeeper was signed by English Premier League club Bolton; for 13 of the next 15 seasons Al-Habsi played in England - the other two were spent with Al Hilal.

At international level, Al-Habsi played 136 times for Oman and helped the country win its first ever Arabian Gulf Cup of Nations in 2009 with a 6-5 penalty shootout victory over Saudi Arabia. Al-Habsi, who worked as a fireman at Seeb International Airport before becoming a football, remains a much-loved figure in his homeland.

Salem Al-Dawsari (Saudi Arabia) - Villarreal

One of the most revered Saudi players of the modern era, Al-Dawsari is a club legend at Al Hilal having won six Saudi Pro League titles, five King’s Cup and two AFC Champions Leagues in Riyadh over the past 13 years. The winger was named AFC Asian Player of the Year in 2022 and a couple of months later famously scored two penalties to help Al Hilal beat Brazilian side Flamengo and become the first Saudi team to reach the FIFA Club World Cup final.

Back in 2018, with Al-Dawsari well established at Al Hilal, he was given the opportunity to move to Villarreal as part of a deal between La Liga and the Saudi Arabian Football Federation (SAFF) to bring more players to Spain from the Kingdom. Al-Dawsari made just one appearance for Villarreal before returning to Al Hilal, though it was a memorable one; the Saudi on as substitute to help the Yellow Submarine fight back from 2-0 down and earn a 2-2 draw with a Real Madrid side including Cristiano Ronaldo, Gareth Bale, Toni Kroos and Luka Modric.

Akram Afif (Qatar) - Eupen, Villarreal, Sporting Gijon

Long before he became the MVP at this year’s AFC Asian Cup, helping Qatar retain its continental crown with a string of influential displays, Afif experienced several seasons in European football. During his time at Aspire Academy as a youth player, Afif was loaned out to Sevilla and Villarreal, before eventually making his professional debut for Belgian club Eupen, scoring on his first appearances as an 18-year-old.

After a series of eye-catching performances for Eupen, Villarreal swooped to make Afif the first Qatari to sign a permanent deal in La Liga. The talented playmaker never actually made an appearance for Villarreal in the Spanish top flight, though he did play on loan in La Liga for Sporting Gijon and was also loaned back to Eupen. In 2018, Afif returned to Qatar with Al Sadd, initially on loan before signing full-time in 2020.

Fahad Al-Muwallad - Levante

Another, like international team-mate Al-Dawsari, to benefit from the SAFF-La Liga partnership of 2018, Al-Muwallad left Al Ittihad on a European sojourn to Levante. Al-Muwallad had reportedly been scouted by Barcelona as a youngster but the Jeddah-born forward instead chose to play for hometown club Al Ittihad, making his debut at just 16 years old. He won the King’s Cup with Ittihad a year later and was named the competition’s MVP.

After developing into a first-team regular at Al Ittihad and the Saudi national team, scoring the goal that took the Green Falcons to the 2018 FIFA World Cup, Al-Muwallad was picked to try his luck on loan in La Liga. At Levante, he found regular football hard to come by, however, and played just two league games before returning to Jeddah. Al-Muwallad exited Al Ittihad in 2022 after more than a decade at the club and currently plays for Al Shabab in the Saudi Pro League.

Abdulla Yusuf Helal (Bahrain) - Bohemians 1905, Slavia Prague, Slovan Liberec, Mlada Boleslav

While his story has flown beneath the radar compared to many of those above, striker Helal has arguably been the most consistent Gulf performer in Europe in recent years. Deciding at the age of 25 to leave his native Bahrain and test himself in European football, Helal secured a move to Bohemians 1905 in Czechia. Although not one of the continent’s biggest competitions, the Czech First League has still proved a breeding ground for talented players - many of whom have gone on to play elsewhere.

Helal, a physically imposing striker, looked immediately at home in European football and after impressing at Bohemians, he moved to one of the country’s biggest clubs - Slavia Prague. The Bahrain international, who has made more than a century of appearances for the national team, became the first Gulf player to feature in the UEFA Champions League when he played against Inter Milan with Slavia in 2019. He was also the first Gulf player to score in the Europa League. After a short hiatus in Indonesia, Helal returned to Czechia last summer and in July moved back to Bohemians.

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