With his transfer to Al-Hilal, Neymar will face Cristiano Ronaldo and the rest of the Real Madrid squad in Saudi Arabia.
The Brazilian striker signed a €100m (£86.3m) deal with the Saudi Pro League club, increasing his annual salary to £129m (around £2.5m per week). Brazilian teammates Malcom and Ruben Neves will also be joining Neymar in Al-Hilal, as well as former Premier League players Kalidou Koulibaly of Chelsea and Sergei Milinkovic-Savic of Lazio.
Ronaldo, who was the first famous player to transfer to the Middle Eastern country when he signed for Al-Nassr after his contract with Manchester United was terminated in December, will be playing on the same team as him. It has been since 2017, when Neymar left Barcelona for Paris Saint-Germain in a record-breаking £200 million move, that the two superstars have competed in the same domestic league.
Over the past four years in LaLiga and the Champions League, the two flashy strikers have created quite a rivalry while playing for fierce rivals Barcelona and Real Madrid. Neymar has joined Lionel Messi in challenging Ronaldo for the title of soccer’s greatest player. Messi has been Ronaldo’s main rival over the years.
Two goals from Ronaldo helped Al-Nassr beаt Al-Hilal in the recent final of the Arab Club Champions Cup. When the two teams meet again on November 30 in the Saudi Pro League, Al-Hilal will have Neymar at their disposal.
Despite the fact that they will be competing against each other again, Neymar has publicly praised Ronaldo. In a September interview with DAZN, he referred to him as a “genius” when asked to describe him.
The 31-year-old has also studied Ronaldo, who is 38 years old, to see how he handles himself as he ages. “The three athletes that you mentioned (Messi, Ronaldo, and Zlatan Ibrahimovic) are reference points,” he stated in 2021.
I think I’m on the same track as them since I treat myself well and put in a lot of effort. To perform at the level I expect of myself, I know that my body must be in top shape.
After been sold by PSG so that Luis Enrique could make the team younger, Neymar will now have to adjust to his new surroundings.
Nasser Al-Khelaifi, CEO of Paris Saint-Germain, said, “It is always painful to sаy goodbye to an incredible player like Neymar, one of the finest players in the game.
I’ll never forget the day he signed with Paris Saint-Germain, and I’ll always be grateful for everything he’s done for our club and our mission in the six years since he joined us. The event was unforgettable, and Neymar will always hold a significant place in our annals.
