Midfield Revolution: Al-Nassr, Al-Ahli, and Al-Ittihad Reshape Their Squads

In a league obsessed with star forwards and headline-grabbing wingers, the real revolution this summer has taken place a few yards deeper. The engine rooms of Saudi Arabia’s heavyweights have been ripped out and rebuilt, piece by piece, with one notable exception.

Al-Hilal keep their core. Almost everyone else starts again.

Life After Brozovic: Al-Nassr’s New Reality

For the first time since 2023, Al-Nassr walk into a season without Marcelo Brozovic dictating the rhythm. His departure doesn’t just remove a name from the teamsheet; it tears out the pivot around which their entire build-up spun.

Brozovic was the outlet under pressure, the first pass from the back, the metronome in possession. When defenders panicked, they looked for him. When the tempo needed lifting or calming, he handled it.

Now that responsibility shifts.

Samu Costa is the man chosen to step into that void. The club aren’t just slotting him into Brozovic’s role and hoping for the best; they are reshaping the entire midfield structure around him. The plan points towards a new look: Costa alongside Abdullah Al-Khaibari and Angelo, a trio designed to share the load between shielding the defence and driving play forward.

On paper, that balance looks smarter. Less dependency on a single brain. More legs, more energy, more shared responsibility.

But can it replace years of experience and instinct in the most delicate part of the pitch? That’s the gamble. Al-Nassr are not just changing personnel, they are changing personality.

Al-Ahli Tear It Up and Start Again

Al-Ahli have chosen the same road: radical change.

Franck Kessié, a cornerstone since 2023 and one of the side’s defining figures in recent seasons, has gone. His departure strips the team of a powerful, all-action presence who could break up play and surge forward in the same movement.

In his place comes a very different profile.

New signing Eduard Spertsyan steps into the midfield, alongside Ivorian Valentin Atangana. The club are still pushing to add another body in that area, a clear sign this is a full-scale rebuild rather than a simple one-for-one replacement.

The idea is bigger than swapping Kessié for another name. Al-Ahli want to redistribute duties across the middle of the pitch. Less reliance on a single enforcer. More structure, more tailored roles to match the new coaching staff’s blueprint and the club’s ambitions both domestically and in continental competition.

Next season, this will not be the same Al-Ahli midfield in look, feel or function. The shirts might be familiar. The way they move will not be.

Al-Ittihad’s African Core and the End of the Fabinho Chapter

If Al-Nassr and Al-Ahli have reworked their midfields, Al-Ittihad have detonated theirs.

The Fabinho era is over. After anchoring the side since 2023, the Brazilian has been moved on, his departure closing a chapter built on his positional sense and experience at the base of midfield.

In his place arrives Dion Lopy from Almeria, and with him, a very different identity.

Lopy joins a central unit that now carries a strong African core: the Senegalese midfielder alongside Malian Mohamed Doumbia and Algerian Houssem Aouar. It is a trio that combines raw physical power with ball-winning aggression and technical assurance.

This is not a like-for-like switch. It is a reset.

Al-Ittihad want more balance, more dynamism, more bite in the middle. Where Fabinho offered control and reading of the game, Lopy and his partners promise intensity and a broader range of tools. The club are betting that this new blend can drag them into a fresh tactical phase, one less reliant on a single holding figure and more on a collective that can press, tackle and play.

The message is clear: the old structure has served its time. A new one takes its place.

While Others Rebuild, Al-Hilal Hold Their Nerve

Amid the upheaval, one giant has chosen calm over chaos.

Al-Hilal have kept their midfield spine intact. No radical surgery, no sweeping clear-out. Just continuity.

Ruben Neves, Sergej Savic, Mohamed Kanno and Nasser Al-Dawsari remain in place, a core loaded with experience and an understanding built over time. They know each other’s movements, strengths and flaws. They have shared big games and big moments. That matters.

While rivals experiment with new combinations in the opening weeks, Al-Hilal can step straight onto the pitch with a unit that already speaks the same footballing language. No need for lengthy adaptation. No need to discover who fits where in real time under league pressure.

In a season where almost everyone else is searching for balance in midfield, Al-Hilal already have it.

That stability might prove the sharpest weapon of all. As Al-Nassr, Al-Ahli and Al-Ittihad try to solve their new puzzles on the fly, Al-Hilal start from a position of certainty. The question now is simple: in a league swept by change, does continuity win the title race?