Aleksander Ceferin: UEFA President says European football not under threat from big-spending Saudis

European football should not be afraid of a player exodus to Saudi Arabian clubs, according to UEFA president Aleksander Ceferin.

He also suggested the country was making a mistake by investing in stars at the end of their careers.

Cristiano Ronaldo and Karim Benzema have taken hundreds of millions of dollars to join Saudi Arabian clubs and similar offers were made to Lionel Messi and Luka Modric.

Collectively, they have won every Ballon d'Or award since 2008 and all are aged at least 35.

More players are expected to follow after four top Saudi Arabian clubs were effectively nationalised recently when taken into majority ownership by the Public Investment Fund (PIF) sovereign wealth operation chaired by Crown Prince Mohammad bin Salman.

Ceferin was asked by Netherlands broadcaster NOS on Wednesday if he was scared of a player exodus, and he answered emphatically: "No, no, no."

"I think that it's mainly a mistake for Saudi Arabian football," he said. "Why is that a problem for them? Because they should invest in academies, they should bring coaches, and they should develop their own players."

"The system of buying the players that almost ended their career is not the system that develops football," he said. "It was a similar mistake in China when they all brought players who are at the end of their career."

Didier Drogba was the star recruit to the Chinese league in 2012 as clubs there bought Europe-based forwards such as Nicolas Anelka and Frederic Kanoute.

The Chinese league and men's national team have made little progress internationally in the years since.

"Tell me one player who is top, top age and who starts his career and went to play in Saudi Arabia?" Ceferin asked during the interview, at the start of the UEFA Nations League Finals mini-tournament in the Netherlands.

"But it's not about money only. Players want to win top competitions. And top competition is in Europe," the UEFA president concluded.