Neymar set for gala welcome at megabucks Saudi club

Brazilian forward Neymar arrives to Riyadh on August 18, 2023 after signing for Al-Hilal on a two-year contract. (Photo by – / AFP)

Brazilian superstar Neymar will be unveiled to fans at Al-Hilal on Saturday as he becomes the latest world-famous footballer snapped up by the big-spending Saudi Pro League.

The flamboyant forward, 31, will be welcomed at Al-Hilal’s 68,000-capacity stadium in Riyadh alongside two other new signings, fellow Brazilian Malcolm and Moroccan goalkeeper Yassine Bounou.

Excitement has been high for Neymar, who joins a string of huge names approaching the twilight of their careers to be lured by oil-rich Saudi’s giant contracts.

Neymar joined Qatar-owned Paris Saint-Germain from Barcelona in 2017 for a world-record fee of 222 million euros ($242 million), scoring 118 goals in 173 matches despite a series of injuries.

He will earn 100 million euros a season in Saudi Arabia, according to a source close to the negotiations, while PSG will pocket 100 million euros in the deal.

Cristiano Ronaldo set the Saudi Pro League’s plans in motion when he joined Al-Nassr in January in a two-and-a-half-year deal said to be worth 400 million euros.

It opened the floodgates for a jaw-dropping summer transfer window when the Saudi league, previously a footballing backwater, snapped up some of the biggest names in the sport.

Real Madrid superstar Karim Benzema was a gala signing for Al-Ittihad in June, followed by Riyadh Mahrez, Sadio Mane, N’Golo Kante, Roberto Firmino, Jordan Henderson and others.

Al-Hilal are the second biggest spending club worldwide in the current transfer window, trailing only Chelsea, and four Saudi teams — Al-Hilal, Al-Nassr, Al-Ahli and Al-Ittihad — have spent nearly more than 560 million euros between