As the football world waits to see where the Kylian Mbappe saga will end, the impact of the raid by Saudi Arabia on the European leagues is already becoming clear.

Like many smaller clubs at the time, when I was a young Southampton supporter growing up in the 1970s and 1980s we used to get star players signing for us when they were past their prime.

The most famous arrival was Kevin Keegan, who had left Liverpool to join Hamburg before opting for my lowly south coast team when he returned to these shores. Before that I got to see the former Arsenal legend, Charlie George, by then sporting a perm, score a screamer of a half volley for us from outside the penalty area. Former World Cup 1966 hero Alan Ball, Peter Osgood, Mick Mills and Jimmy Case also pulled on the red and white striped shirt.

All these players had enjoyed stellar careers at other clubs before choosing Saints when their price tag dropped with age to something we could afford.

These days they would be off to earn megabucks playing in Saudi Arabia.

Read more: Andy Murray shows true class as he turns down Saudi millions

Similarly in the 1990s players like Mark Hateley, Paul Gascoigne and Chris Sutton made successful moves north of the Border that would not happen now, either. That’s because today’s equivalents – such as Jordan Henderson, N’Golo Kante, Riyad Mahrez and Roberto Firmino – are all grabbing the Saudi riyal for a final payday as the curtain comes down on their careers.

Henderson has been ridiculed for signing for Al-Ettifaq despite using his platform as Liverpool captain to campaign for LGBTQ+ rights. He will now be paid £700,000 a week to play in a country where same-sex relationships are illegal and punishable by death.

I’ve no idea how he squares this with what he told Liverpool fans in the matchday programme two years ago when he said: “I do believe when you see something that is clearly wrong and makes another human being feel excluded you should stand shoulder-to-shoulder with them.”

As if to highlight his hypocrisy Henderson’s new club have turned an online picture of him black and white to hide the fact that he was wearing a rainbow armband during a Liverpool match.

It’s not only the older players who aren’t signing for Scottish teams in the way they used to, some of the younger ones are leaving too.

Celtic’s Portuguese star Jota, who is just 24, is joining the Saudi Pro League side, Al-Ittihad, despite the prospect of Champions League football next season. And the Scotland defender, Jack Hendry, is off to join Steven Gerrard at Al-Ettifaq.

The raid on the European leagues started in January with Cristiano Ronaldo leaving Manchester United to join Al Nassr, followed by Real Madrid star Karim Benzema signing for Al-Ittihad in the summer.

In June four of Saudi Arabia’s top clubs – Al-Ittihad, Al-Nassr, Al-Hilal and Al-Ahli – were taken over by the country’s sovereign wealth fund which also owns Newcastle United.

The soccer spending spree they have embarked on is part of a massive £5 billion investment in sport by the Riyadh regime since 2021 to distract from its terrible human rights abuses. As well as football, millions of pounds have been poured into boxing, golf, motor racing and tennis.

Unlike in Europe, Saudi clubs are not constrained by Financial Fair Play Regulations (FFP) and so can spend what they like to attract talent.

Read more: PSG give Mbappe permission to talk to Saudi Arabian club Al Hilal

Due to its recent splurge the value of the Saudi Pro League is now £435m, meaning it has leap-frogged the SPL, valued at £267m. It’s still got a way to go before it catches the big European leagues but the statement of intent is there.

As with golf, the Saudis want to use their financial muscle to buy a seat at the table of top football leagues in the world.

The average British fan won’t benefit from this, of course, because we don’t watch our football in the Middle East. The financial competition will, however, drive up players’ wages which in turn will mean fans back home pay more at the turnstiles and in TV subscriptions.

We’ll also be denied the chance to see those stars of yesterday that I used to as a boy, as will fans in France, Spain and Italy.

Players who choose to sign up for the Saudi project are mercenaries turning their back on their fans and the leagues that put them where they are. Nobody gives a stuff about the Saudi Pro League so let’s not pretend they are going for any other reason than money.

They also helping to prop up a discredited regime which jails women’s rights activists and the LGBTQ+ community, executes dissident journalists and political opponents, and has spent eight years bombing a neighbouring state, Yemen, back to the Dark Ages in a bloody conflict which has cost nearly 400,000 lives.

We’re still waiting for the first athlete – from any sport who chooses to take the Saudi riyal – to speak out about the atrocities perpetrated by the regime which pays them.

Some have said why they are not going, such as Rory McIlroy and Andy Murray, who both took the attitude: "It’s the human rights, stupid".

But the silence of the footballers departing in their droves is deafening as they quietly sportswash Saudi Arabia’s toxic reputation.

Anthony Harwood is a former foreign editor of the Daily Mail