Pipe dream or a true disruptor?

Cristiano Ronaldo's comments yesterday that the Saudi Pro League could in time become one of the top five leagues in the world drew plenty of ridicule, but is it so unfathomable that the Middle East could become a centre of world football?

Ronaldo, who joined Al-Nassr in January, said: "The Saudi league is getting better and the next year will be even better. Step-by-step I think this league will be among the top five leagues in the world but they need time, players and infrastructure. But I believe that this country has amazing potential, they have amazing people and the league will be great in my opinion," he added.

Some believe Ronaldo may have been waxing lyrical simply for the sake of his mammoth contract, estimated to be worth more than 200 million euros per year, but perhaps there is something that the globe-trotting superstar noticed which emboldened him to make such a big statement.

Chief among those reasons is the seemingly infinite supply of cash in the Kingdom, which means they can outmatch offers by magnitudes and attract the best talent in the world. The next phase of that chapter seems destined, with reports abounding that Al Hilal will secure the marquee signing of Lionel Messi for a contract that could reach €400 million.

It is a tactic that teams in England's Premier League, bolstered by deals from the most lucrative broadcasting deal in football, have used for a long time. They have created a brand based on the melting pot of various ethnicities, styles of play and precocious talent.

As it stands now, reports estimate that the average Premier League footballer's annual salary is between €2.5-3 million, easily more than double that of competing leagues such as La Liga in Spain and the Italy's Serie A. Wages in the Premier League have risen at such an astronomic rate that if the average annual salary in the United Kingdom had kept pace, it would have ballooned to £437,084.

However, casually dumping a hundred or so million into salaries in itself would not be enough, as evidenced by the rise and fall of the Chinese Super League. But with intervention from Saudi's sovereign wealth fund, a structure could take shape that could look to rock the traditional Euro-centric identity.

It is something that the Saudis have done recently in the world of golf with LIV Golf, which has shaken the sport to its core. Although an offer north of $700 million was turned down by Tiger Woods, LIV Golf has propped itself up as a true contender to the tenured PGA Tour.

But throwing money at the problem can still cure most surface-level problems, such as those to do with marketing and branding. Even a relatively unknown club like Paris Saint-Germain have risen to the ranks of European elites at the cost the highest wage bill in Europe, paying out €387 million euros per year in salaries.

Currently, 11 of the top 25 wage bills in the world belong to Premier League clubs and Chelsea, who have the sixth-highest outlay, pay just under €189 million in wages per year. Their entire wage bill would not be able to cover what the Saudis are paying for one season of Cristiano Ronaldo.

The only uncertainty is exactly how serious the Saudis themselves are about pouring so much investment into a domestic structure where teams will never be able to compete for the Champions League.

Is their dream of rekindling the Ronaldo-Messi rivalry on their soil just another cog of Vision 2030, a way to market the economic and social reforms that are aimed at opening Saudi Arabia up to the rest of the world using the biggest names in sport? Or is it another example of disruptive innovation, aimed to create a super league in the Middle East?