Wolverhampton captain Ruben Neves is set to be the next major player to join Saudi Arabia, with the Al-Hilal club set to spend 55 million euros on the Portugal international, according to several British media reports on Sunday.
According to Sky Sports and the BBC, the 26-year-old midfielder, who has one year left on his contract, is set to leave the Premier League club.
He would then join his compatriot Cristiano Ronaldo, and the Frenchman Karim Benzema, Ballon d’Or last year, in the Saudi championship.
But unlike Ronaldo (38) and Benzema (35), Neves is not in the twilight of his career, so the Gulf kingdom would confirm its new omnipotence on the transfer market if it managed to attract this player long tracked by major European clubs.
Another midfielder playing in the Premier League, N’Golo Kanté (32), could also join Saudi Arabia. World champion in 2018, the French midfielder “has signed a binding agreement but not a final contract” at Al-Ittihad, an internal source at the club told AFP on June 8.
The rich oil country, often criticized for its human rights violations, has positioned itself for several years in world sport. The transfers of world football stars testify to the scale of the sporting ambitions of the monarchy, which plans to apply to organize the 2030 World Cup and the Olympic Games.
