Crysencio Summerville is set to become the third-biggest sale in West Ham United’s history, in addition to one of the most expensive players ever brought to the Saudi Pro League.
Ok, maybe we don’t need the word ‘ever’ there.
It’s not as if the Saudi Arabian top-flight is anything but a very modern destination on the footballing landscape, after all.
£70m for Summerville! Where does this rank among West Ham’s best-ever sales?
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But at a time when the allure of Middle Eastern football appeared to be waning – World Cup winner Aymeric Laporte spoke for many in 2024 when talking about the ‘disconnect’ in the desert – the deal which adds a further £68 million to West Ham United’s coffers also sees Crysencio Summerville become one of the few truly marquee Saudi signings of the last 18 months.
According to Sky Sports, Al Hilal are paying just shy of £70 million for Summerville. £68 million, to be precise.
A fee that, per Transfermarkt, sees Summerville move into second place in the list of the most expensive Saudi Pro League signings.
Crysencio Summerville to leave West Ham United for Saudi Arabia
Only Neymar, a wretched, injury-crippled shadow of his former self at Al Hilal, keeps the Dutchman off top spot.
Summerville shifts Jhon Duran, the baby-faced journeyman who joined Al Nassr from Aston Villa for £64 million, into third. Other names making up the current top ten include Ruben Neves, Darwin Nunez, Aleksandr Mitrovic and Moussa Diaby.
Interestingly, only three of the top ten most expensive transfers in Saudi history took place after the 2024/25 season; Nunez from Liverpool to Al-Hilal and Mateo Retegui from Atalanta to Al-Qadsiah.
In fact, only six of the top 20 most expensive Saudi transfers were concluded since the start of last summer.
Summerville is far from a trailblazer, but the former Leeds and Feyenoord winger does make the move at a time when some wondered if the bubble was about to burst.
Summerville puts his career and his reputation at risk
Of course, plenty will have a lot to say about Summerville leaving English football for the oil-coated deserts of the Middle East before his 25th birthday.
He has only just forced his way into the Dutch squad. Only time will tell if Ronald Koeman’s Oranje successor – whoever that may be – is willing to call up a forward plying his trade in a league placed lower than the Scottish Premiership, the Hungarian NB I and the Cypriot 1.Division [Global Football Rankings].
No matter what its most highly-paid cheerleaders may scream into your ears – yes, we are looking at you Cristiano – the viewing figures prove that, no matter how many fading superstars and cash-grabbing youngsters you can offer, the fans simply don’t care about the Saudi Pro League.
The fans don’t care about it, while some of the league’s own players simply don’t care for it.
If you were Nils Koppen, who are YOU signing to replace Summerville?
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“They have not made it easy for us. In fact, there are many players that are discontented,” Laporte told Diario AS shortly before returning to Europe with Athletic Club.
“Many of us have also come here not only for football. Many of us are happy with that, but I am also looking for something beyond the economic part and such. In terms of quality of life, I expected something different.
“Here, you spend three hours a day in the car. Riyadh is a waste of traffic.
“[As for the clubs and the bosses,] you negotiate something and then they don’t accept it after you have signed it. They fight you.”
Summerville, you imagine, is about to become one of the best-paid footballers on the planet. But at what cost?
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