Saudi Pro League transfer deadline shut at 22:00 BST to end a record-breaking summer of spending – but Al-Ittihad were unable to prise Mohamed Salah away from Liverpool.

Reds rejected a £150m bid from Nuno Espirito Santo’s side for the 31-year-old Egypt international. Reports of a world-record bid of £215m were never confirmed.

A number of Premier League managers have criticized the fact that the Saudi deadline closed almost a week after Europe’s major leagues.

With Saudi Arabia’s Public Investment Fund investing huge resources in four of its clubs, it was an unprecedented summer of spending in a non-European league.

According to Deloitte data, Saudi clubs spent about £700m this summer, ranking them just below the Premier League, France’s Ligue 1 and Spain’s La Liga.

Some of world football’s biggest names will also play in the Gulf, along with multiple Premier League stars.

A £77.6 million deal brought Neymar to Al-Hilal, while Saudi clubs also wooed Georginio Wijnaldum from PSG, Karim Benzema from Real Madrid, Sadio Mane from Bayern Munich, Marcelo Brozovic from Inter Milan, Franck Kessie from Barcelona, Jota from Celtic and Sergej Milinkovic-Savic from Lazio.

The French champions gave Al-Hilal permission to speak with Kylian Mbappe after making a £259m bid, but the forward decided to stay and Neymar was sold.