Suleman Sani Leaves RB Leipzig for Saudi Arabia After Six Months
Nigerian winger Suleman Sani has made a surprising transfer from RB Leipzig to Saudi Pro League club Al-Qadsiah for up to €8 million. Despite joining Leipzig in January 2026 with high hopes, injuries and strong competition prevented him from playing any competitive minutes. The move offers the 20-year-old a crucial opportunity for regular senior football in Saudi Arabia.
Suleman Sani's time at RB Leipzig lasted only six months.
The 20-year-old Nigerian winger has now left the German club for Saudi Pro League side Al-Qadsiah, ending a short Bundesliga spell in which he never made a senior appearance.
RB Leipzig confirmed the permanent transfer on Tuesday, September 8. Reports put the deal at up to €8 million, including bonuses.
For Sani, the move is less about the money than getting his career moving again.
Leipzig never quite worked out
Sani joined Leipzig from Slovakian club AS Trenčín in January 2026 after attracting attention as one of Nigeria's promising young attackers.
The German club had invested about €5 million in the winger and handed him a contract running until 2031.
It never turned into the breakthrough he would have wanted.
Sani dealt with injury problems after arriving in Germany and was training with Leipzig's Under-19 side in August rather than the senior team. The club's own squad update listed him among the players working with the U19s before the new Bundesliga season.
He therefore left Germany without playing a competitive minute for Leipzig.
That makes the transfer unusual, but not necessarily a bad move for the player.
Why Saudi Arabia could make sense
Al-Qadsiah offers Sani something Leipzig could not give him immediately: a chance to fight for regular senior football.
At Leipzig, he was competing for a place in an attack that already included several young options. Breaking into the first team was always going to require patience, especially after missing time through injury.
At Al-Qadsiah, Sani can now focus on getting back onto the pitch and building his senior career.
The Saudi club finished fourth in the Saudi Pro League last season and has continued spending on ambitious signings, including Tijjani Reijnders from Manchester City.
Sani will therefore not be joining a club without expectations. He will still have to earn his place.
Leipzig still made money from the deal
There is another interesting side to the transfer.
Leipzig reportedly paid just over €5 million for Sani in January. If the final value of the Al-Qadsiah deal reaches €8 million, the German club will have made a profit on a player who never played a competitive match for them. Bundesliga's official transfer list also records Sani among Leipzig's departures to Al-Qadsiah.
That is a useful outcome for Leipzig, even if Sani's development did not go as planned.
For the Nigerian winger, though, the calculation is different.
At 20, regular football matters more than simply being attached to a major European club. His next step will be judged by what he does on the pitch in Saudi Arabia.
After six months in Germany without a senior appearance, Sani finally has another chance to show what he can do.