Saudi stars Kante and Benzema will earn more than seven Premier League squads

Chelsea ace N’Golo Kante is set to join Al-Ittihad just days after Karim Benzema quit Real Madrid to sign for the Saudi Pro League champions. And the latest Saudi Arabia stars, who have enjoyed illustrious careers in Europe, will earn more than seven Premier League squads combined.

According to football.london, Kante will leave Stamford Bridge when his contract expires at the end of this month and pen a deal worth a staggering £86million per season for the next two years at Al-Ittihad.

Benzema, meanwhile, has already signed on the dotted line and will be handed a £172m salary for the next three years, according to transfer guru Fabrizio Romano. The contracts are among the biggest ever handed out in football history. And the wages of those two players alone will eclipse the wages of the whole squads of Burnley, Brentford, Brighton, Bournemouth, Fulham, Wolves and Luton combined.

According to Spotrac, Burnley players only earn a total of £16.9m per season, while Brentford stars get £30m. Brighton’s total wage bill is £36.4m, with Bournemouth players earning £43.8m and Fulham aces getting their hands on a total of £54m. The Wolves player budget is £63m, while Salary Sport are reporting Luton’s salary spend to be just £9.2m per season.

Those clubs are therefore spending £253.3million per year combined, nearly £5m less than Kante and Benzema will be earning as a duo in Saudi Arabia.

Al-Ittihad won the Saudi Pro League for the ninth time earlier this year after beating Cristiano Ronaldo’s Al-Nassr to the title. The Portugal international moved to the Middle East at the end of last year after his contract with Manchester United was terminated by mutual consent. And despite racking-up 14 goals in 16 league appearances, Ronaldo wasn’t able to make the difference as Al-Nassr finished five points behind the champions.

Kante, who won the Premier League title with Leicester in 2016, has spent the last seven years at Stamford Bridge, where he has won the Champions League, Club World Cup, Europa League and FA Cup as well as a second top-flight trophy.

Benzema, meanwhile, lifted five Champions League trophies and five Club World Cups during a 14-year career at Real Madrid and also helped the Spanish giants get their hands on four La Liga titles and three Spanish Cups. His Bernabeu departure was announced on Sunday morning, just hours before he found the back of the net in his last ever appearances for Los Blancos.

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