Neymar transfer to Al-Hilal worth £235 million

After two foiled attempts to land one of Paris Saint-Germain's star strikers, Saudi Pro League side Al-Hilal has successfully signed Neymar Jr. in what is reported to be a $300 million (£235 million) contract.

The Saudi Arabian club first approached Lionel Messi when his contract expired at the end of the 2022/23 season. However, the seven-time Ballon d'Or winner opted to join Major League Soccer (MLS) side Inter Miami instead.

Then, earlier this month, the club was said to have put forward an eye-watering $1.1 billion deal to sign Kylian Mbappe for just one year. PSG were reportedly keen to accept instead of losing Mbappe on a free transfer next summer, but the player refused to enter talks.

However, as the transfer window nears its end, Al Hilal have finally managed to convince one of PSG's prolific strikers to make the move. After six seasons at the Parc des Princes, Neymar Jr. informed PSG chairman Nasser Al-Khelaifi last week that he wanted to leave.

He was briefly linked with a possible return to Barcelona, and there were also speculations about bids coming from the MLS and Premier League side Chelsea FC. However, Just a week since it was confirmed that Neymar is set to leave PSG, the lucrative deal with Al-Hilal has been announced.

Neymar first reached superstar status in La Liga with FC Barcelona. While playing under Pep Guardiola during the club's golden years, he was part of a team that won two La Liga titles, the UEFA Champions League in 2014/15, the Supercopa de Espana as well as three Copas del Rey.

Despite all that, he lived in the shadow of Lionel Messi at the Camp Nou. In 2017, he decided to step out of that shadow and agreed to join PSG through a world record fee of 222 million euros.

He won Ligue 1 with PSG in five out of six seasons with the club, but the Champions League trophy continues to elude the French giants. He made 173 appearances for the club and won 13 trophies, but fans around the world are still pointing out that he is now leaving without having fulfilled the goal of winning Europe's top club competition.

Nevertheless, the time to move on has come for both the player and the club, with PSG also set on revamping their squad in order to seek a new path to Champions League glory.

Neymar is set to receive a guaranteed $300 million from Al-Hilal for his two-year deal, but that amount could go up to a total of $400 million including add-ons in the form of bonuses and commercial deals with the club.

Meanwhile, PSG have accepted a $102 million fee, which is only a shadow of what they spent to acquire him from Barcelona. However, the Brazilian has paid his dues in his six seasons with the club, and after having spent most of the year recovering from an injury, the transfer fee does not seem like a bad deal for PSG at all.

The French champions took to social media platform X (formerly Twitter) to share a short tribute to the Brazilian for the work he has done with them since 2017.

Just hours later, Al-Hilal also shared a video confirming that the Brazilian has agreed to join them.

Neymar is one of the biggest signings for the Saudi Pro League this summer. Earlier this year in January, Portuguese star Cristiano Ronaldo paved the way for Europe's biggest players to head to the Middle East. He was left without a club for a few months after mutually agreeing to cut ties with Manchester United in late 2022, but Al Nassr quickly swooped in.

Ronaldo is believed to be receiving around $75 million per year with that number expected to balloon up to $200 million through commercial add-ons. Since then, a number of other stars from Europe have joined Saudi clubs, including the likes of Karim Benzema, Sadio Mane, N'Golo Kante, Roberto Firminho and Jordan Henderson.

Neymar was still under contract with PSG until the summer of 2025, but it seems that all parties involved saw an opportunity arise this summer that they simply could not miss.