Welsh football’s leading goalscorer from last season, Brad Young, has completed a shock move to Saudi Arabian side Al-Orobah.
Young, 21, has joined the newly-promoted Saudi Pro League (SPL) club for a reported £190,000 from The New Saints (TNS), which is believed to be a record fee for the Welsh top flight.
The striker, who came through the youth ranks at Aston Villa, spent time on loan with Carlisle United and Ayr United before he joined TNS last summer.
He really came to the fore over the summer though as he scored three times in seven European qualifiers, with the Welsh side historically securing a place in the UEFA Conference League group stage.
TNS striker Brad Young has completed a stunning move to Saudi Arabian side Al-Orobah
Young, Welsh football’s leading scorer last season, has moved for a record £190,000 fee
Young’s move to the newly promoted Saudi Pro League side was described as ‘life changing’
His impressive run of form included two goals in the first leg of a Champions League first qualifying round victory over Montenegrin side Decic.
However, Young will be absent when TNS take on Panathinaikos and Fiorentina in the Conference League following his stunning transfer to the Middle East.
Speaking after the move was confirmed, TNS chairman Mike Harris outlined how the club couldn’t stand in Young’s way.
‘It’s life changing for him and his family,’ Harris told BBC Radio Wales’ Breakfast programme.
‘We’re not a club who are really looking to sell players but ultimately the offer to the young man was extremely good and it does help put our club and the Welsh league on the map.
‘Because it’s not normal for big transfer fees to be involved when it comes to Welsh Premier sides.
‘We’d had a lot of enquiries about Brad with scouts appearing at our games last season, obviously the talent of the young man was there to be seen.
‘So we weren’t surprised but we’re probably a little surprised at the speed the deal came around, obviously with preparing for Europe during the summer it would have been a lot more convenient if the enquiry had happened in May.’
Young’s remarkable rise is set to continue in the Middle East, with his new team-mates including fellow summer signing Kurt Zouma, who joined on loan from West Ham at the weekend.
Former Fulham and Hull star Jean Michael Seri, who won the 2023 AFCON, is also at Al-Orobah, as is former Burnley midfielder Johann Berg Gudmundsson.
Young’s story is all the more remarkable given he was the victim of a serious knife attack at the age of 17 in 2020, which threatened his life and football career.
Opening up to Mail Sport last month, Young revealed how the wound was 12cm deep before he made a full recovery and won the FA Youth Cup with Villa the following season.
‘I remember looking over to my mum and dad and saying, “I love you”,’ he said. ‘I remember thinking, hand on heart, that I was going to die.
‘I lost a lot of blood, I was sweating and I genuinely thought I was going to die.
Young’s remarkable rise will see him come up against the likes of Cristiano Ronaldo this season
Young came through the youth ranks at Aston Villa, before he joined TNS last summer
‘When I was in the hospital and before they did the first blood transfusion they finally let my mum in to come and see me – it was Covid time so you obviously couldn’t go into the hospital to see people – and I was speaking to her normally while they were treating me and holding the artery where the blood was everywhere.
‘Then I just went bright white all of a sudden and sweating like a shower was on me.
‘That’s when they rushed my mum out of the hospital and said, “we don’t know what is going to happen here”. That’s when I got three blood transfusions and that’s what saved my life.’
And now, after his inspiring recovery, Young is set to take on the likes of Cristiano Ronaldo as he joins an Al-Orobah side who have lost their first two games this season.
