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Hello! Today we’re writing about one of football’s richest clubs. Who you’ve probably never heard of. From a space-age city which hasn’t been built.
On the way:
💰 Saudi’s $1.5tn NEOM project
🗣️ Delap holds Man Utd talks
🥹 Tearful Martinez moving on?
👀 Salah’s collector’s item
Line in the sand: Team for city that does not yet exist targets CWC, 2034 World Cup
A model of the proposed NEOM Stadium (Wang Dongzhen/Xinhua via Getty Images)
Searching for The Line on a map of the world is a fool’s errand, because the city doesn’t exist. It’s a concept in the mind of Saudi Arabia’s royal family, part of a futuristic project known as NEOM which in theory will hold a population of nine million.
A staggering sum of money, $1.5tn (£1.1tn), has been set aside to turn the vision into a reality. The Saudis envisage The Line — an ambitious, or ostentatious, trail of infrastructure spanning 170km — being front and centre when the country hosts the FIFA World Cup in 2034. To that end, they want a stadium and a football club to match the largesse.
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This is where NEOM SC come in, a shrouded enigma which James Montague has done as well as anybody in unravelling. This determined piece of digging, published in The Athletic and comprising a chapter from a book written by James, epitomises football’s transfer of power to new frontiers, and the Middle East most of all.
NEOM are owned by the Public Investment Fund (PIF), the deep-pocketed Saudi entity which runs Newcastle United. Before PIF picked NEOM up, they were known as Al Suqoor, a team with crowds barely worth registering. But Tabuk, the city in northern Saudi where Al Suqoor played, was near the land allocated for The Line — so PIF selected them for a rebrand and a capital injection.
PIF controls the entire NEOM scheme and the extravagance of its intentions can’t be overstated. The Line (for which construction has started) is supposed to have no currency or roads. Robots will act as servants and cars will fly. A state-of-the-art stadium is being designed to sit half a kilometre off the ground. It sounds like a Marvel movie.
In the future, PIF sees a day when NEOM SC move to The Line and become one of the world’s biggest teams. They could already be classed as the world’s richest. But from a standing start, how is such a steep jump in status remotely feasible?
Promotion growing crowds
Pericles Chamusca, the Brazilian manager of NEOM SC (Michael Regan/Getty Images)
Saudi investment in football invariably brings with it allegations that the Gulf state is engaged in ‘sportswashing’: using the game to enhance its global image and divert attention from concerns about issues like its human rights record.
It is, however, very close to FIFA and the governing body’s president, Gianni Infantino. Saudi Arabia was nominated to host the 2034 World Cup unopposed, 12 years on from the tournament being held in Qatar. For better or worse, it’s at the heart of football’s political evolution and its wealth is helping to make its voice heard.
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As for NEOM, they were promoted to the Pro League for the first time last month. Attendances are up to 10,000. One strand of PIF’s strategy is to ensure they qualify for the 2029 Club World Cup, which tells a story about how FIFA’s new hobby horse is attracting the attention it craves.
James was able to get inside NEOM SC and speak to key stakeholders there, an achievement in itself since the NEOM building site is secretive, inaccessible and virtually unphotographed. NEOM’s chairman, Meshari al Motairi, had never been interviewed before James pinned him down. He described sport as an “accelerator for many things” — isn’t it just? — and was in no doubt that NEOM were headed for the big time.
This will go one of two ways. Either the club rise like a rocket, or they go down as another episode of the Emperor’s New Clothes. But however things turn out, NEOM aren’t the story here. They’re a mere pawn in football’s Game of Thrones, where the sands are shifting rapidly.
News round-up
Double Swoop? Man Utd in talks with Delap and Cunha
Cunha with the Player of the Match trophy following victory over Manchester United (Jack Thomas – WWFC/Wolves via Getty Images)
There’s a definite trend of Europe’s big clubs getting their ducks in a row on the transfer front early. Real Madrid have done Dean Huijsen. Liverpool should push Jeremie Frimpong over the line shortly. And now, Manchester United are making inroads with Liam Delap and Matheus Cunha.
Cunha to Old Trafford from Wolverhampton Wanderers has been in the offing for a while, helped by a £62.5m ($83.5m) release clause. That deal is advancing. But while Ipswich Town striker Delap has a release clause too (lower, at £30m), he’s hugely in demand. Laurie Whitwell’s report of face-to-face talks between the 22-year-old and United officials can only be a positive sign for Ruben Amorim.
How much the club’s intentions rest on Champions League qualification through the Europa League final remains to be seen but either way, Amorim is crying out for new toys. He’s got David Beckham in his corner, telling The Athletic that Amorim is “a very good manager”. Beckham might have bigger things to worry about at Inter Miami but when he speaks, people listen. A little nudge at the hierarchy won’t hurt.
🎙️ Our podcast team have been trying to decide: will winning the Europa League final fix United? I’m not convinced it’s as simple as that, and neither are they. Listen on Apple and Spotify.
Emotional Emi: Was Martinez saying goodbye to Villa?
Martinez sheds tears after the game against Tottenham Hotspur (Neville Williams/Aston Villa FC via Getty Images)
Whether Emiliano Martinez is the world’s best goalkeeper is a matter of debate. This season hasn’t been his finest. But for two years running, he’s been voted as such: the winner of the Yashin Trophy in 2023 and 2024.
On Friday, however, Martinez was in floods of tears after Villa’s final home game of 2024-25, the universal sign of a player about to check out. As Jacob Tanswell and Gregg Evans explain, the 32-year-old’s situation is up in the air. No decision has been taken on his future and no transfer has been finalised. But it’s easy enough to read the room.
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Villa have been dealing with intense PSR pressures, and Martinez would command a tidy fee. He’s a showman, a World Cup winner, a penalty expert and a wind-up merchant, and he’s an easy keeper to love if he happens to be yours. Nothing better demonstrates that than Villa’s fans launching a donation page aimed at raising $7m to retain him.
What next for Martinez, then? And how would Villa manage the end of his era, or the gaping hole he leaves behind? Because the Argentine packing up is a potential parting we didn’t see coming.
Around TAFC
- The Premier League’s free agent list (above) is always fun to pick through. Kyle Walker-Peters at relegated Southampton should get a move back to the top flight. And I’m fascinated to see where Jamie Vardy goes next. MLS, per chance?
- Stadium naming rights are all the rage, not least in U.S. sport, but they do give grounds peculiar titles. Everton’s fanbase aren’t digging the branding of their new Bramley-Moore Dock home as the Hill Dickinson Stadium, named after a Liverpool law firm. One supporter has dubbed it Hickory Dickory Dock.
- The USMNT’s preliminary squad for the Gold Cup is massive, at 60 names long. It’ll get whittled down to 26 soon. The top lines: Club World Cup commitments look like ruling out Weston McKennie, Tim Weah (both Juventus) and Gio Reyna (Borussia Dortmund). The inclusion of Sebastian Berhalter, meanwhile, continues his upward trajectory.
- Eintracht Frankfurt, from whom Manchester City sourced Omar Marmoush, are on the crest of a wave, heading for the Champions League and winning admirers across Europe. Seb Stafford-Bloor examined their magic formula.
- Most clicked in Monday’s TAFC: the debatable Dean Henderson handball decision.
Catch a match
(Selected games, times ET/UK)
Premier League: Crystal Palace vs Wolverhampton Wanderers, 3pm/8pm — Peacock Premium (U.S. only); Manchester City vs Bournemouth, 3pm/8pm — USA Network, Fubo/Sky Sports.
And finally…
Sky Sports
Last night’s fixture at the Amex was a formality for Liverpool. As our own Adam Hurrey — aka Football Cliches — would have it, the Premier League champions are spiritually on the beach.
Just as well for Mohamed Salah, who strayed a thousand leagues out of character by sticking a sitter wide, above, with Liverpool 2-1 up against Brighton (they went on to lose 3-2). Yesterday we asked if Le Havre’s Abdoulaye Toure was human. It turns out that Salah is. Which is nice to know.
(Top photo: Ryan Pierse/Getty Images)
