New Saints contact Fifa over outstanding Young Saudi fee

The New Saints, the reigning Cymru Premier champions, claim to have paid Al-Orobah, the country’s top club, for Brad Young and have lodged a complaint with the world’s governing body Fifa.

Young, top scorer in the Welsh top flight last season, left Saints for Saudi Arabia in September 2024 for a fee of £190, 000.

Mike Harris, the chairman of Saints, called the Saudi club “an absolute disgrace” and claimed that they had not received any compensation.

“We’re due our transfer fee – not a penny has come”, Harris told BBC Radio Wales ‘ Call Rob programme.

“Our transfer fee hasn’t been paid. We’ve reported it to Fifa. One]payment] was due immediately in September – we gave them 16 days ‘ grace – and the other was due]last week], which was the second part.

We can’t even contact the club, so I’d advise any club considering a potential sale to Saudi Arabia to hold off until the player has the funds in their bank before departing.

The promises of riches that don’t arrive should not be accepted by any other club.

According to a Saints representative, the case will be sent to the Fifa Players’ Status Chamber for a formal decision on January 14.

In recent years, clubs in the Saudi Pro League have made significant investments in attracting stars like Neymar, Cristiano Ronaldo, and Karim Benzema.

In December, Fifa confirmed Saudi Arabia would host the 2034 men’s World Cup, a decision which Harris has criticised.

Solihull-born Young joined Saints in September 2023 after leaving Aston Villa, and went on to score 22 goals for the Welsh champions, winning the Cymru Premier’s player of the season award.

Young’s double double on his European debut helped Craig Harrison’s side ultimately capture a historic spot in the Europa Conference League group stage.

But the 21-year-old left Saints before the club’s Conference League campaign, much to Harris ‘ frustration.

They entered on the day before the transfer window was open, and they “promised the world,” Harris continued.

We didn’t want to sell him, so we’re not a selling club. The money they were offering him was life-changing.

” This guy from Saudi Arabia was all ‘ we are this, we are this ‘ and that they’ve got loads of dosh. I didn’t want the dosh – I wanted the player to play in Europe.

“We missed the deadline, played in Europe without a striker. We couldn’t get another player in. The only difference was that we didn’t quite score enough goals when we represented Wales in Europe.