“This is a perfect demonstration that if you go to Saudi, you can still come back to a top-level club and Wolverhampton is a fantastic club. I'm very happy about that,” Giuliani continues in our latest instalment of our monthly chat on all things SPL with the Italian football agent and consultant. And should rumours turn out to be true that Vitor Pereira is on his way to Molineux, Guiliani knows what he’d like for SPL club Al-Shabab as a replacement for the Portuguese.
“If we’re lucky, hopefully the next manager is an Italian one,” he chuckles on a zoom link from his adopted home in London. From there he witnessed Saudi Arabia being successful in their bid to host the 2034 World Cup.
“This is a big success, not only for football, but for the whole country. It was the main goal in the strategic development of football. Now, the goal is to become very competitive in football, not just for the World Cup. This is a perfect period of time to develop that idea, to develop football as a business in the country and to reach a top level for the World Cup 2034,” says Giuliani who is confident Saudi football will reach their goals.
“They are very smart and ambitious people. They have a clear project about what they want and they will reach that goal for sure,” he believes, although the Saudi national team haven’t been doing great in 2024. The sacking of Roberto Mancini hasn’t brought immediate success and they have failed to win their last four competitive matches and didn’t even score. The most recent World Cup qualifier was lost 2-0 in Indonesia. This, for a side who two years defeated Argentina at the World Cup and we all know what Argentina went on to. Why has Saudi seemingly gone backwards?
“When they beat Argentina, almost all the players played in the local league. Things are a little bit different now as many of them are not always on the pitch. This, I think, is something they should improve upon. But as I’ve previously stated, the quality is still very good, it's just a matter of time ‘till they find the right way to reach their goals. They have the quality and they will improve for sure,” a confident Nicola Giuliani states of the side which is about to compete in the Gulf Cup of Nations.
Saud Abdulhamid showing the way
Not included in the squad is AS Roma player Saud Abdulhamid who recently celebrated a bit of a breakthrough. The 25-year-old defender scored for the Italian side in their 3-0 win in the Europa League against Braga. A moment of confirmation for Giuliani.
“I said from the beginning he is a very good player. But it is not just the goal, you can always score a goal while not performing well. A goal is just a goal. He has also started performing very well, so I'm very proud of that because this is a demonstration that they have quality,” says Giuliani, speculating what this could mean for Saudi football in general.
”It's a starting point. This can show many other Saudi players that they can perform well and impress in Europe. The most important thing for them is to find the right project. An opportunity is fine, but it needs to be with the right club with the right coach. When you put a player from another country with a different culture, with a different way to train, with a different way to play, there are a lot of things to consider. If the technical project matches with the player and the ambition of the club, that is a good starting point. And right now, Saud Abdulhamid is showing clubs that Saudi players can perform at the highest level, if they find the right project.”
The highest level is something attendances to matches in the SPL are seemingly struggling with currently. According to the Athletic, numbers are down for the third year running with the Athletic listing a couple of matches attended by a meagre 504 and 656 people. The SPL are on top of things, though, Giuliani believes.
“They will find a solution for that. It's something they can deal with. This level of football in the country is at a starting point, so there are many different aspects to consider. But everything can be solved successfully.”
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