“I think the budgets are in place for a number of years – you know, I don’t see this slowing down,” said British director Peter Hutton, who sits on the league’s board.

The SPL has lured some of football’s biggest names since five-time Ballon d’Or winner Cristiano Ronaldo joined in January from Manchester United.

They include former Real Madrid striker Karim Benzema, Liverpool’s former captain Jordan Henderson and established players from Chelsea, Manchester City and Bayern Munich.

In addition, last month Al-Hilal made a world-record £259m bid for Paris St-Germain forward Kylian Mbappe.

Hutton, who has been a senior executive at Eurosport, ESPN, IMG & Facebook, said: “I’ve worked in sport for 40 years and I’ve never seen a project as big, as ambitious and as determined to be a success.”

Speaking to BBC sports editor Dan Roan in a wide-ranging interview for BBC Radio 5 Live’s special ‘The Saudi Story’, he said it was “not necessarily a bad thing” if European football was not as strong as it has been.

Hutton also put the Saudi spending into context, saying “it has got the world of sport talking but it’s a quarter or a fifth of what Premier League clubs have spent this summer”.

City manager Pep Guardiola has said the Saudi Pro League’s financial power has “changed the market” for transfers and elite clubs “need to be aware of what is happening”, while Liverpool counterpart Jurgen Klopp has expressed concern about the transfer window closing late in Saudi.

According to Transfermarkt, SPL clubs have spent 409m euros (£352m) so far this summer – the fifth-highest total in world football and more than Spain’s La Liga’s 254m euros (£218m). The Premier League leads the way with 1.37bn euros (£1.17bn) spent.

Asked how big a threat the SPL is to the established powers in football, Hutton said: “The investment from Saudi is remarkable. It’s certainly been a big acceleration.

“This doesn’t necessarily mean that Europe isn’t going to be as strong in world football going forward. But I would say that’s not necessarily a bad thing. It’s good that football has strength around the world.”

Questions over ‘sportswashing’

Saudi Arabia has invested heavily in sport in recent years and has been accused of using events to ‘sportswash’ its reputation.

There are concerns over human rights and women’s rights in the country, while same-sex sexual activity is illegal in Saudi Arabia, with the death penalty a possible punishment.

Henderson’s move to Al-Ettifaq drew criticism given his previous support of the LGBTQ+ community.

Responding to these issues, Hutton said: “The reason I got involved in the KSA [Kingdom of Saudi Arabia] was I saw some of the stuff that was happening on the ground.

“My wife works in women’s football in Fifa, she was aware of what was happening in the kingdom. And you see that change, you see how much joy they’re bringing to the local community.

“The changes in the role of women in Saudi community are remarkable and moving very fast. Clearly in Western eyes it could move a lot faster, but it has moved remarkably in the context of the history of the kingdom.

“I look at the evidence I see. You’ve now got 50,000 school girls playing football. You’ve got 1,000 women coaches. In 2018 there were 750 registered coaches. Now there are over 5,500.

“So you see that as evidence of change, and women’s football development as part of societal change. That for me is the real attraction of this project.

“It’s not just about headline players and big transfer fees and wages. It’s also about the whole Saudi football infrastructure, whether that be women, youth football, creating a whole pyramid that really transforms the sport in the country.”

‘Real clubs with real fan bases’

The SPL’s rise has drawn comparisons with the big-spending Chinese Super League, which declined after a rapid start.

The country’s Public Investment Fund (PIF) has taken over four of the SPL’s leading clubs, while there is a centralised player acquisition centre.

Hutton believes the government’s involvement in the SPL could be a template for other countries in terms of bringing together the academies, women’s league, men’s league, and football federation to “create a roadmap for growth which is interlinked, not people fighting for territory”.

“The Saudi League has 50 years of tradition behind it. It has established fans for established clubs. This is a real competition that we’re trying to upgrade as opposed to starting something new,” says Hutton.

“The good thing about the Mbappe bid and signings like Ruben Neves is it shows it’s not just old players that are being looked at. It’s more a question of what will add value, what will add glamour, what will add star factor.

“There are real clubs with real fan bases who are genuinely excited, just as Chelsea fans or Manchester City fans were excited when the new influx of money and stars came to their clubs. It’s not so dissimilar.”

Commercial gains

Asked when he expects the league to see a return on its considerable investment, Hutton says: “I can see projections for income which are really strong in nine or 10 years’ time.

“It’s just important to see year-by-year increases and certainly the gates are up, TV revenues are up, sponsorship is up. I don’t see why that should slow down.

“When Ronaldo signed for Al Nassr we suddenly had this interest from international broadcasters. Last year, we ended up in over 170 territories once Ronaldo signed.

“It’s clearly something that’s caught the imagination of broadcasters worldwide and that’s been a really positive sign. I’d be confident we’ll get a broadcast deal in the UK for this coming season.”

Benzema scored two close-range finishes after cutbacks from Brazil wingers Vinicius Junior and Rodrygo.

Lucas Vazquez was fouled by Largie Ramazani and Benzema converted from the spot to complete his first-half treble.

Victory sees second-placed Real Madrid move within eight points of leaders Barcelona.

Carlo Ancelotti’s side got back to winning ways before Real’s Champions League semi-final against Manchester City on 9 May.

Only Lionel Messi (474), Cristiano Ronaldo (311) and Zarra (252) have scored more goals in the Spanish top flight than the 35-year-old former France forward.

Almeria pulled a goal back in the dying seconds of the first half, with Ramazani atoning after conceding the penalty by crossing into the six-yard box for Lazaro Vinicius to finish.

Two minutes after the restart, Rodrygo fired a screamer into the top corner from outside the box.

Substitute Lucas Robertone headed in from a Francisco Portillo cross just after the hour mark as relegation-threatened Almeria put up a fight against the defending champions, but were ultimately overpowered.

Eduardo Camavinga and Rodrygo had diving headers ruled out for offside with Los Blancos unable to get their fifth goal of the thrilling contest.

Barcelona have the chance to restore their 11-point lead at the top when they face Real Betis this evening at 20:00 BST.

Carlo Ancelotti’s side are 12 points behind La Liga leaders Barcelona.

Rodrygo slotted Madrid’s opener into the bottom corner from Marco Asensio’s ball before Benzema headed in Vinicius Jr’s excellent cross.

The Frenchman curled in his second from another Vinicius pass and then scored a close-range overhead kick – with Asensio and Lucas Vazquez also netting.

It was the fastest Madrid hat-trick in a La Liga game since Fernando Hierro’s three goals in six minutes in a 7-0 win over Espanyol in April 1992.

Rodrygo, who set up Benzema’s third goal and Asensio’s strike, had another finish ruled out by the Video Assistant Referee (VAR) for a Vinicius handball and struck the woodwork too.

Valladolid, who are just one point above the relegation zone, hit the post in each half through Roque Mesa and Kike Perez.

It was a morale-boosting win for Madrid, who are practically out of the title race, but face Barca on Wednesday in the Copa del Rey semi-final second leg.

Boss Ancelotti was able to bring off key players including Benzema and Vinicius and introduce some players who have barely played recently including Eden Hazard.

The Belgian, making his first La Liga appearance since September, set up Vazquez’s injury-time goal.

The Merseysiders have produced heroic comebacks in the past, but it was never on the cards here as Karim Benzema netted the only goal of the game 12 minutes from time to secure a 6-2 victory on aggregate for Carlo Ancelotti’s Spanish champions.

Reds boss Jurgen Klopp had spoken about a one per cent chance coming into the second leg in Spain and it looked like he was going for it by naming four forwards in his starting line-up.

However, it was Real who had the better of the opening half with Alisson producing a miraculous point-blank save to deny Vinicius Jr before the goalkeeper’s fingertips flicked Eduardo Camavinga’s curling shot on to the crossbar.

Real had the more clear-cut chances in a tepid second period with Federico Valverde and Benzema wasting clear sights of goal before the latter finally broke the deadlock with a scruffy tap-in.

Liverpool offered little as an attacking threat but were much more secure than at Anfield and will rue falling apart after storming into a 2-0 lead early in that first leg.

Real can now look ahead to Friday’s draw for both the quarter-finals and semi-finals of the competition.

Los Blancos will then switch focus to Sunday’s El Clasico at Barcelona while Liverpool do not play until April 1 when they visit Manchester City in the Premier League.

The winner will be announced with the Uefa men’s coach of the year and women’s player and coach of the year at the 2022-23 Champions League group stage draw in Istanbul on 25 August.

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Benzema and Courtois helped Real seal a record 14th European title last season while De Bruyne guided City to the Premier League title — his fourth crown in seven seasons at the club.

Among other nominees for the award are Barcelona’s Robert Lewandowski, Real’s Luka Modric and Bayern Munich’s Sadio Mane.

Real’s Carlo Ancelotti, City’s Pep Guardiola and Liverpool’s Juergen Klopp were among the nominees for the male coach of the year. Uefa will name nominees for the women’s awards next week.

A judge handed Benzema a one-year suspended jail term and ordered him to pay a €75,000 (£63,000; $84,000) fine.

Benzema, 33, was one of five people put on trial last month over the attempt to extort Frenchman Mathieu Valbuena.

The scandal has stunned the football community in France and both players lost their national team places.

The case dates back to June 2015, when the two footballers were at a French training camp.

At the camp, Benzema put pressure on Valbuena to pay off the blackmailers, whom he had conspired with to act as an intermediary, prosecutors said.

Benzema has always denied the allegations and insisted he was only trying to help Valbuena get rid of the compromising video.

The player has since returned to the France team and is expected to start for Real Madrid on Wednesday night when they play FC Sheriff Tiraspol in the Champions League.

Benzema was not present in court in Versailles for the verdict, nor was Valbuena who plays for Greek club Olympiakos.

Karim Benzema netted a brace and Alvaro Odriozola also got in on the goalscoring act, as Los Blancos hardly had to get out of second gear.

Cadiz sought to replicate their famous victory at the Bernabeu but found themselves on the end of an impressive display of attacking intent and quality as Real’s superiority in the final third shone through.

With the game wrapped up before half time, Zinedine Zidane was able to slow the game down after the break and introduce his talented youngsters off the bench, with Miguel Gutierrez and Mariano coming on in the dying embers of the match to earn first-team minutes.

A highly impressive performance from Los Blancos, as they seek to maintain pressure on Atleti at the league’s summit.

Despite this being Real Madrid’s fourth match in 10 days, Zidane made just one change to the team that beat Atletico Madrid in Saturday’s derby, with Fede Valverde coming in for the suspended Casemiro.

The visitors started brightly, but were reduced to 10 men after only 13 minutes when Raul Garcia was shown a second yellow card for a foolish tackle on Toni Kroos on the edge of the opposition box.

Athletic Club did well to keep things tight at the back until stoppage time at the end of the first half when Toni Kroos lashed home a finish from the edge of the box to give Real Madrid the advantage.

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Ander Capa restored parity for Athletic Club seven minutes into the second half, scuffing a shot into the back of the Real Madrid net after Thibaut Courtois’ initial save from close range.

Benzema, however, gave Real Madrid the lead again 16 minutes from the end, getting on the end of a Dani Carvajal cross into the box to power a header home, marking his third goal in his last three appearances.

Courtois made a huge save to deny Mikel Vesga in stoppage time before Real Madrid broke up the pitch on the counter-attack to secure the points with a third goal as Benzema converted with a reverse finish.

The Frenchman was on hand to head home two crosses from the right flank, the first from Lucas Vazquez which he flicked home and the second a powering finish from Rodrygo’s centre.

Real should have won by more and Luka Modric twice came close to extending the lead before half-time, first hitting the post and then seeing an effort disallowed due to Raphael Varane being offside.

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Benzema could have completed a hat-trick in the second half but from just six yards out blasted against the crossbar after Yann Sommer superbly tipped away Sergio Ramos’ header and Lucas Vazquez also saw an effort come back off the woodwork.

The result means Real end Group B in top spot, with the German side also qualifying, after Inter drew at home to Shakhtar Donetsk in the other group game tonight.