Premier League clubs are bracing themselves for a decade of lavish spending by the ultra-ambitious Saudi Pro League (SPL), Telegraph Sport understands.

England’s top flight clubs are working on the understanding that the Saudis have enough money to keep hoovering up talent from across Europe for the next 10 years as they bid to transform the football landscape and avoid a similar fate to the Chinese Super League, it has emerged.

Backed by the £600 billion Public Investment Fund, which owns Newcastle United and four of the nation’s biggest clubs – Al-Nassr, Al-Hilal, Al-Ahli and Al-Ittihad – the Saudis want the SPL to become one of the top-10 leagues in the world as part of its Vision 2030.

They have already succeeded in enticing the likes of Cristiano Ronaldo and Karim Benzema and have been trying to lure Kylian Mbappe after Al-Hilal made an extraordinary £259 million bid for the France superstar amid his bitter stand-off with Paris St-Germain.

In the main, the Saudi clubs have been targeting high-profile names in the twilight of their playing careers and, for as long as that remains the case, executives at Premier League clubs have indicated they feel the SPL will predominantly be operating in a different market.

But there is understood to be concern among a growing legion of leading European clubs about the impact the Saudi gold rush could have on contract negotiations on the continent as players become increasingly empowered.

While Mbappe, 24, has given little indication that he would be willing to move to Al-Hilal, with the striker thought to be targeting a transfer to Real Madrid, well-placed sources have suggested there could be ramifications for Europe’s top leagues if the SPL attempt to pick off more and more players in their prime.

Transfer fees and wages have continued to soar in recent years and sources say there are worries about the inflationary pressures the SPL’s largesse could have as top players are tempted with ever more lucrative contract offers.

The SPL believe they are here to stay and the prospect of a decade of heavy investment could see the league grow exponentially, even if comparisons will inevitably be made with the Chinese Super League.

Huge money was thrown at transfer fees and wages there from 2016, with the country’s president Xi Jinping declaring an ambition to turn China into a “football powerhouse”, but such investment ultimately proved unsustainable and the league has run into real problems in the last few years.

The SPL are determined things will be different in Saudi and have wasted no time flexing their muscles.

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