NEOM SC's French connection brings distinct flavour to Tabuk

If, in recent weeks, you were wandering the streets of Tabuk, in the far north-west of Saudi Arabia, you may have noticed an increasingly Gallic presence around town, the French accent thick in the air as anticipation builds ahead of the Roshn Saudi League's first visit in almost two decades.

In the city of more than half a million inhabitants, making it one of the 10 largest in the Kingdom, it’s out with the knafeh and in with the croissants - for there is a new legion of stars ready to make their mark.

Ahead of NEOM Sports Club’s debut season in the RSL, the newly promoted club were busily building a squad to compete with the likes of Al Ittihad, Al Hilal, Al Nassr and other lead sides. And it’s one that boasts a distinctly French persuasion.

Perhaps that is no surprise given former French youth international Christophe Galtier, who had a 15-year managerial career in his homeland before moving to the Gulf in 2023, was given the task of overseeing NEOM SC's inaugural campaign in the RSL.

In fact, the French pivot began even before Galtier’s arrival, when the significantly remodelled club were still in the Saudi First Division League (SFDL), with the acquisition of Said Benrahma.

The 29-year-old may be Algerian-born and an Algerian international, but having moved to France aged 11, most of his footballing education took place in one of the heartlands of European football.

Starting out at Nice, Benrahma had stints with Angers, Gazelec, Chateauroux and, more recently, Olympique Lyon before his move to the Kingdom at the beginning of this year. From there, Benrahma was pivotal in NEOM SC's promotion as SFDL winners.

Having struck gold at Lyon with Benrahma, the upward-trending Tabuk side went back to the well when, in July, they signed Alexandre Lacazette as their headline summer recruit.

The French international, formerly of English Premier League side Arsenal, captained his country at last year's Paris Olympics.

Continuing the theme, NEOM SC also recruited 25-year-old goalkeeper Marcin Bulka who, while Polish, had spent all of his professional career to date in the French leagues, most notably with Nice.

Unfortunately, though, Bulka will miss Thursday's much-anticipated home match against Damac - and, in fact, most of the season - having ruptured his ACL after making his competitive bow for the club in Matchweek 1. Portugal's Luis Maximiano has since come in from Spain's UD Almeria.

Circling back to France, 20-year-old Ivorian youth international Amadou Kone was brought from recently relegated Ligue 1 outfit Stade Reims amid reported interest from Olympique Marseille.

But NEOM SC’s French affair didn’t stop there; indeed, it was a pair of acquisitions announced a few days apart as July made way for August that are really turning heads.

Nathan Zeze and Saimon Bouabre may lack the profile of a player with Lacazette’s reputation, but what they are without in that regard, they more than make up for in potential.

Aged 20 and 19 respectively, the highly talented duo represent another signal of the overall shift in the RSL towards signing younger foreign talent - further indication of a bold new future for the competition.

Midfielder Bouabre, the younger of the two additions, played a starring role for France on their way to the final of the 2023 FIFA Under-17 World Cup, even scoring against Germany in the showpiece before his side lost in a heartbreaking penalty shootout.

Bouabre was then instrumental, again, for France at last year’s UEFA U19 Championships in Northern Ireland, scoring twice in the group stage to help his team to another final. However, it ended in another defeat, this time at the hands of Spain.

Still, expected this campaign to enjoy a more influential role at AS Monaco after playing only four times last season, Bouabre was instead tempted by the decidedly ambitious project in NEOM SC.

Consequently, and as his opening two RSL appearances have implied, the inventive creator promises to be one of the most exciting prospects in the division this season.

The same goes for Zeze, who in recent seasons has performed an increasingly prominent role at Nantes; he featured 13 times in the league in 2023-24 and, last term, made 18 more Ligue 1 appearances.

So impressive had the defender been in the French top flight, it was reported that a host of Premier League clubs were interested in his services, including defending champions Liverpool, Everton, Aston Villa and Bournemouth. Some had even likened Zeze to Arsenal’s William Saliba.

Those comparisons, and the stature of the clubs apparently chasing him this summer, only underscore the significance of his signing for NEOM SC.

In Bulka, Zeze, Kone and Bouabre, the RSL new boys have a spine of a side - all 25 or under - that could serve them well into the future.

That exciting quartet is then astutely sprinkled with substantial experience in the form of Lacazette, Benrahma, Egyptian great Ahmed Hegazi and, another summer signing, midfielder Abdoulaye Doucoure from England's Everton.

It's worth noting Doucoure is French-born and spent his formative football years in the country. He even represented France at numerous age-group levels before debuting for Mali in March 2022. 

All said, it’s an exciting time in Tabuk, with the NEOM development - both the football club and the entire futuristic city’s project - rapidly taking shape.

Given the French flavour, as NEOM SC get set on Thursday to welcome the RSL for the time to their own patch when they host Al Okhdood, perhaps nowhere will that excitement be more keenly felt than in the city’s bakeries.  Or, rather now, its patisseries.