2025-26 RSL: 8 Saudis to Shine | OneFootball

While it’s easy to get excited by the array of international talent lining up in the Roshn Saudi League each season - and with good reason - it remains the case that the core of the league is made up of extremely strong Saudi talent.

Because of this, maximising the local players at your disposal goes a long way for a club towards claiming silverware.

So as we look forward to a new season that kicks off this week, here are just a small number of the Saudi stars to keep an eye on.

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Salem Al Dawsari – Al Hilal

The Al Hilal stalwart remains the gold standard when it comes to the RSL’s local ranks and, somehow, he just seems to get even better with age.

Even at 33 last season - he just turned 34 this past week – Al Dawsari had the best campaign of his career individually. While Al Hilal came up short in the silverware stakes, finishing runner-up to champions Al Ittihad, it wasn’t for lack of effort and output from their captain.

Al Dawsari scored 15 goals and 15 assists in the league alone, with 27 goals and 18 assists across all competitions.

Al Hilal captain Salem Al Dawsari tussles with Real Madrid's Trent Alexander-Arnold at FIFA Club World Cup

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Ziyad Al Johani – Al Ahli

Having first made an impression upon Al Ahli’s return to the RSL in 2023-24, when they finished third, the 23-year-old took his game last season to a new level.

Operating in central midfield alongside Franck Kessie, the slightly built midfielder is a deceptively strong presence in the centre of the pitch, and was pivotal in Al Ahli’s surge towards the AFC Champions League Elite title.

Al Johani’s string of impressive performances, both on the continent and in the RSL, saw him earn his first call-up to the Saudi Arabia national team.

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Saad Al Mousa – Al Ittihad

While much of the credit for Al Ittihad’s title success was given to their all-star attack, the adage goes that attacks win games, but defences win championships.

Last season, Al Ittihad boasted the second-best defence in the league, bettered only by Al Qadsiah, and a large part of that was down to the form of Al Mousa.

Still only 22, the central defender was a tower of strength at the back, repaying the faith Al Ittihad showed in bringing him in from Al Ettifaq.

Mukhtar Ali – Al Ettifaq

This is a pivotal season for the 27-year-old, who joined Al Ettifaq in January on a four-and-a-half-year deal.

Since emerging from Chelsea’s academy, alongside the likes of Mason Mount and Tammy Abraham, Ali has always been one for the future - and that time is now.

Working under master manager Saad Al Shehri, whom he knows intimately from his time with the Saudi youth teams, and with a possible World Cup berth on the horizon, this is the moment for Ali to shine.

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Ayman Yahya – Al Nassr

The 24-year-old, top scorer and MVP at the AFC U23 Asian Cup in 2022, which Saudi Arabia won, had a breakout campaign last time out for Al Nassr.

After showing potential for so long, his tally of five goals and three assists last term was the best return of Yahya’s career, the midfielder often delivering at crucial times for Al Nassr.

As the revamped Riyadh club, third last season, eye a serious tilt at silverware, Yahya’s role as an impact player - either starting or off the bench - will be as important as ever.

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Abdulmalik Al Oyayari – NEOM SC

A lot of fascination surrounds the RSL debut of NEOM SC this campaign, which will also see Abdulmalik Al Oyayari return to top-flight action.

One of the more fascinating transfer moves last season was the decision of the hugely talented 20-year-old - he is now 21 – defender-cum-midfielder to leave Al Taawoun after a breakout campaign.

Convinced enough by the NEOM project and not deterred by taking a step down one division, Al Oyayari arrives back to the RSL as a key member of the incredibly ambitious side as they enter their first-ever campaign in the top tier.

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Yasser Al Shahrani – Al Qadsiah

As a player, Yasser Al Shahrani has nothing left to prove. He has won it all, be it league or continental titles, and been there for the biggest games of the national team for the past decade.

Without doubt, he will be remembered as a great of Saudi football, but the marauding full-back isn’t hanging up the boots just yet.

Al Shahrani has made an emotional return home to Al Khobar to join his boyhood club, Al Qadsiah. It was at the Eastern Province club that the defender cut his teeth and first made his steps as a professional footballer, and now he is back albeit to a vastly different side.

Still, it’s one that could yet deliver more silverware for the decorated defender.

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Awn Al Saluli - Al Taawoun

Al Taawoun have been one of the good-news stories of the RSL during the past two seasons, finishing fourth in 2023-24 and backing that up last year with a run to the semi-finals of the inaugural AFC Champions League Two.

Among the standouts across those two campaigns has been Awn Al Saluli in defence. Standing 192cm, he is a towering presence with performances to match, so it’s no surprise that he has reportedly suitors right across the league.

Whether they are successful remains to be seen, but wherever Al Saluli plays, he is set for another big season in the RSL.