Brazil loses a soccer player per week to the Arab market, and no one knows where the money goes.

Written by Bruno Teles

Published on 18/04/2026 at 00:53

Updated on 02/05/2026 at 15:17

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Brazil exported 1,005 players abroad in 2025, according to the FIFA Global Transfer Report published in January 2026. That’s almost 20 per week, an absolute world leadership. Only in the Saudi Pro League, the first division of Saudi Arabia, there were 29 Brazilians in action in the 2024/25 season, more than any other foreign nationality. Adding the United Arab Emirates and Qatar, the number exceeds 40. But the question that no one answers is straightforward: how much money did these players generate for the clubs that trained them, and where did that money go?

The well-known names are few. Neymar, Firmino, Fabinho, and Malcom made headlines when they traded Europe for the Middle East. But most Brazilians in Saudi Arabia are not stars: they are players from the second and third divisions of Saudi Arabia, with market values between 200,000 and 4 million euros according to Transfermarkt, coming from Brazilian Serie B, Serie C, or secondary leagues in Portugal. These are names that do not appear on Sportscenter but support the silent machinery of the largest player-exporting market on the planet.

The most revealing data from the FIFA report is that more than 60% of all international transfers involve players without contracts, meaning they leave for free. When a Brazilian player leaves the club at the end of the contract and signs with a Saudi team, the training club receives nothing for the transfer. The player earns salary at the destination, the agent earns a commission, and the club that invested years in training gets zero.

Why does Brazil export more and earn less than everyone?

Brazil exported 1,005 players in 2025, world leader. Only in Saudi Arabia are there 29 Brazilians. More than 60% leave for free. Training clubs get nothing

In 2024, transfers of Brazilian players amounted to US$ 591 million, according to the previous FIFA report.

ARTICLE CONTINUES BELOW

Saudi Arabia, which will host the 2034 World Cup, has intensified investments since 2023 with the Saudi sovereign fund PIF project.

But the flow of Brazilians to the Middle East did not start now: since 2018, Saudi clubs have been signing players from Brazil to fill squads off the media radar.

The difference is that, with the market’s growth, the volume has increased without transparency keeping pace.

While the English Premier League recorded revenue of $1.77 billion in outgoing transfers in 2025, Brazil, which exported more players in absolute numbers, fell far behind in revenue.

The country develops talent, but does not capture the value.

Brazil is the largest factory of players in the world, but sells them for a song and often for free.

Comment below: should Brazilian clubs better protect their players or is the system completely broken?

Brazil loses a soccer player per week to the Arab market, and no one knows where the money goes.

Why does Brazil export more and earn less than everyone?

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Brazil loses a soccer player per week to the Arab market, and no one knows where the money goes.

Why does Brazil export more and earn less than everyone?

Saudi Arabia, which will host the 2034 World Cup, has intensified investments since 2023 with the Saudi sovereign fund PIF project.

A giant printer called the “Ferrari” of concrete has landed in Latin America and can already build a 120-square-meter house in just 48 hours, making the traditional construction site look like something from the last century.

Great Atlantic Sargassum Belt has ceased to be a climatic phenomenon and has become a biological system that feeds on itself, with 8,000 kilometers in length, 37 million tons of algae, and scientists confirm that it is now permanent.

A British company has installed in the middle of the ocean the world’s first floating platform that generates electricity 24 hours a day from the temperature difference between the surface and the depths of the Atlantic, without relying on wind or sun.

China is building an artificial island in the middle of the sea, covering 20 km², to construct the largest offshore airport in the world, the Dalian Jinzhouwan. This $4.3 billion project is anchored on more than 3,000 pillars embedded in the rock beneath the ocean and is scheduled to open in 2035.

Brazil will harvest a record crop of up to 357 million tons of grains, but it does not have the capacity to store a large part of it. The storage deficit has reached the highest level in history and is equivalent to almost the entire production of Argentina.

Engineers had to pour concrete mixed with tons of ice throughout entire nights in the Dubai desert to erect the Burj Khalifa; any carelessness could clog the pipes half a mile high.

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