Neymar completes Saudi move to Al Hilal after six successful seasons with PSG

Following six seasons at Paris SaintGermain Neymar became the latest superstar soccer player to take the riches on offer from the Saudi Pro League completing a move to Al Hilal on TuesdayThe clubs reached an agreement on the transfer of the Brazil forward for a reported 90 million euros 98 million a record for a league that is now financially backed by the oilrich stateAl Hilal a record 18time national champion is one of four Saudi clubs effectively nationalized by the Public Investment Fund PIF the sovereign wealth fund that claims assets of about 700 billionThe 31yearold Neymar signed a twoyear contract that is expected to earn him an annual salary of about 100 million That would be around half of the reported salary being taken home by Cristiano Ronaldo who plays for Al Nassr and whose move to Saudi in January sparked a slew of transfers to the kingdom by players like Karim Benzema NrsquoGolo Kante Riyad Mahrez and Jordan HendersonldquoI have achieved a lot in Europe and enjoyed special times but I have always wanted to be a global player and test myself with new challenges and opportunities in new placesrdquo Neymar said in the clubrsquos announcement ldquoI want to write new sporting history and the Saudi Pro League has tremendous energy and quality players at the momentrdquoAlso Read Unraveling mega deals and dilemmas Kylian Mbappe and the Saudi Arabia offerPSG confirmed the departure of Neymar in a statement with president Nasser AlKhelaiumlfi describing him as ldquoone of the best players in the worldrdquoldquoI will never forget the day he arrived at Paris SaintGermain and what he has contributed to our club and our project over the last six yearsrdquo AlKhelaiumlfi said ldquoWe have had great moments and Neymar will always be a big part of our historyrdquoYet he never won the Champions League with PSG after his move from Barcelona for 222 million euros now 244 million which remains a worldrecord transfer fee in soccerNeymar reportedly wanted to rejoin Barcelona but the Spanish club couldnrsquot afford the financial package required for the transfer No other top European club was willing mdash or wealthy enough mdash to sign Neymar who has struggled with injuries in recent yearsHe was an undoubtedly talented yet often frustrating figure at the PSG which put together a starstudded forward line of Neymar Kylian Mbappe and Lionel Messi and now only has one of them leftMessi joined Inter Miami this offseason and Mbappe has one year left on his deal after which he is likely to move to Real MadridMbappe has been mired in a transfer standoff with PSG and was the subject of an offer by Al Hilal which he turned down The French club said Sunday it has had ldquoconstructive and positive talksrdquo with MbappeAl Hilal also has Brazilian winger Malcom Portugal midfielder Ruacuteben Neves and Senegal defender Kalidou Koulibaly in its squadMalcom and Neves were the subjects of the two previous most expensive transfer fees paid by a Saudi club mdash at a reported 60 million euros 65 million and 55 million euros 60 million from Wolverhampton respectively