New Al-Hilal star Neymar Jr. can further elevate Saudi football, analysts tell Arab News

SAO PAULO: After six seasons in France’s Paris Saint-Germain, footballer Neymar Jr. is ready to play for Riyadh’s Al-Hilal after a multimillion-dollar deal was reached earlier this week.

The Brazilian forward is the latest Saudi Professional League high-profile acquisition this season, after world stars such as Cristiano Ronaldo and Karim Benzema were transferred to Saudi clubs since December 2022.

One of the greatest idols in the sport, 31-year-old Neymar has more than 200 million followers on Instagram and is one of the most famous Brazilian celebrities nowadays.

The combination of his high-quality performance on the pitch and his media fame is expected to have a significant impact on Saudi football.

“He’s a world star and is at the height of his career. He’ll keep playing for Brazil’s national team and may be decisive in its future accomplishments,” Ubiratan Leal, a sports commentator at ESPN Brazil, told Arab News, adding that Neymar’s deal is in a way more important than Ronaldo’s, who was hired by Al-Nassr in December.

“Ronaldo is bigger than Neymar — he’s probably among the 10 major players in football’s history. But he’s ending his career and wasn’t able to keep playing for European clubs,” said Leal. Neymar, however, “could be included in any team in the world and would be its star player.”

Mauricio Noriega, a sports commentator at Radio Transamerica and website Trivela, told Arab News that Neymar “is still relatively young and can play high-level football for several years ahead.

“He can make a great contribution to Saudi football. His style is attractive to the audience — he likes to dribble and to show an artful way of scoring his goals.”

Noriega said Neymar can captivate Saudi football fans if “he