It’s a relatively slow morning for Saudi in the foreign press, giving football drama an open field to lead coverage.

Bergwijn exchanges words with Dutch manager over Saudi move: Netherlands international Steven Bergwijn — who moved to Al Ittihad for EUR 21 mn — is in the headlines for butting heads with Dutch team coach Ronald Koeman, who claimed Berwijn’s move to Saudi would jeopardize his place in the national team. Following Koeman’s claims that players should focus on their sporting ambitions rather than financial gains, Bergwijn said that Koeman “knows very well that the competition in Saudi Arabia is at a great level.” The back-and-forth is getting wide play in the foreign press: Reuters | ESPN | BBC | AP | New York Times

MEANWHILE- The IMF’s annual review of the Saudi economy out last week got pickup from Bloomberg over the weekend (here and here)

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