https://www.kingfut.com/2018/01/21/...pain-in-saudi-arabia-and-la-liga-partnership/ saudi arabia is paying la liga to take their players into their clubs. has this ever happened before? well it has happened indirectly ie chinese players were signed to sell EPL jerseys, but this is a direct deal: you take our players, and we will pay you and do marketing for you in our region.
Don't hate the playa, hate the game Completely legal "cooperation agreement" between two leagues, which was signed in October 2017. Action has been coming for sometime now. Some Spanish clubs are struggling financially, and are more than happy to house Saudi players in exchange of money. Looking at the player list, just 3 have played Asian qualifiers with the Saudi national team. They will be hosted by clubs in Spanish 1st division. No idea how much they will play in Spain (language barrier, adaptation, etc). Since the Spanish players' union has complained about this agreement, http://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/football/42781575 it is likely that the Saudi players will keep their non-EU status. That is, the Saudi players will count against each club's non-EU player quota: 2 players for 1st division clubs, 3 players for 2nd division clubs. In my opinion, it is a quick money-grab scheme for a few Spanish clubs, which works as a publicity stunt for the Saudi Arabian federation. Spanish club: Hey fans, we can pay our debts this season! Saudi GSA: Hey fans, our national team will be more prepared for Rusia 2018.
Why do you feel this should be illegal? In MLS the league owns the contracts so any loan or sale would be the league to an outside club, so whats the difference?