Despite the arrivals of Karim Benzema, Cristiano Ronaldo, and Neymar, Saudi Arabia is not satisfied. It aims to attract new stars for its league, starting with Vinicius Jr. The Kingdom appears to have few financial limits.
Saudi Arabia has 10 years to capture the world’s attention and become a key player in football. The Kingdom is set to host the World Cup in 2034, and what better way to promote the event than by signing a pack of global stars? The development of the Saudi league has been rapid in recent years, with Cristiano Ronaldo joining in January 2023, followed by Karim Benzema and Neymar the following summer. The next targets for the Saudis include Mohamed Salah, Kevin De Bruyne, and especially Vinicius Jr.
Attracting the Real Madrid star, a frontrunner for the next Ballon d’Or and significantly younger than the Egyptian or the Belgian, will not be straightforward. However, Saudi Arabia is seriously eyeing Vinicius Jr. for 2025, according to information from Marca. The Spanish daily reveals that the Madrid winger is seen as Neymar’s designated successor at Al-Hilal. The defending champions of the Saudi Pro League will part ways with Neymar if he cannot return to his best form, in order to make room for Vinicius Jr.
Backed by the Public Investment Fund (PIF), the Riyad club is setting no financial limits. They are already prepared to offer a minimum of 200 million euros to buy out his contract with Real Madrid, which runs until 2027. This could be even more expensive since Los Merengues have set his release clause at 1 billion euros. This colossal sum comes at a time when Marca reported a few weeks ago that Al-Hilal also wanted to propose a total salary of 1 billion euros to the player. The success of such a transfer would forever change the transfer market and global football.
