Al-Kholood has made history as the first Saudi Pro League club that’s fully owned by a foreign investor. Ben Harburg, the new owner wants to use a “develop and sell” strategy to grow local talent with limited money. The club is getting ready for a tough season knowing they don’t have much cash to spend.
- Ben Harburg bought Al-Kholood in July 2025.
- The club wants to grow local talent instead of getting international stars.
- Al-Kholood is getting ready to fight against relegation this season.
A New Era for Al-Kholood
Al-Kholood Football Club has started a new chapter with Ben Harburg in charge, which is pretty big cause it’s the first Saudi Pro League club that’s completely owned by someone from another country. Harburg, who runs the Harburg Group got the club in July 2025 when Saudi Arabia was trying to make its sports clubs private. This shows how people from all over are getting interested in the league and opens the door for more foreign money in Saudi football.
Interesting story from last night 👀
Al-Kholood’s new owner @BenHarburg literally sat down with the fans in a restaurant to hear their opinions and ideas for the club’s future. Respect for that move 👏
He admitted they don’t have the PIF money or Al-Qadsiah, but they’re trying to bring in quality players on a modest budget — sounds like a “develop and sell” project to bigger SPL clubs.
And he said it straight: they’ll fight for survival this season. He already knows Al-Kholood are one of the clubs in the relegation battle. Honest talk 👌
— All About SPL 🔔 🇸🇦 (@Saudifutbol)
August 18, 2025
Harburg’s got a simple plan: help local players get better instead of buying big international names. His “develop and sell” idea is about making players good enough to sell them to bigger Saudi Pro League clubs. Even though they don’t have as much money as clubs backed by the Public Investment Fund or Al-Qadsiah, Harburg really wants to build something that’ll last.
Community Engagement and Challenges
Ben Harburg is really hands on with the club and people like that. He even went to eat at a local restaurant to talk to fans about what they think should happen with the club. Everyone thought that was pretty cool and it shows he actually cares what the local supporters think about where the club’s going.
When he talks to people, Harburg is pretty honest about what’s going on. He straight up says Al-Kholood will probably have to fight to not get relegated this season. But people respect him cause he’s honest and talks to the fans, and he keeps saying how important it is to have the community behind them especially since they don’t have much money and it’s hard to compete.
Future Prospects and Growth
Al-Kholood with Ben Harburg in charge is really trying hard to make it work. They don’t have much money but they’re trying to stay in the league while building something good for the future. Their plan to make players better and sell them makes sense cause the league is getting better and there’s lots of young talent coming up like Talal Hajji.
Even though Al-Kholood doesn’t have the big money like Al-Qadsiah, the way they work with the community and try to make players better could work out really good later. The league is getting bigger around the world, and with players like Julián Quiñones showing how good it can be Al-Kholood might be onto something with their plan.
