PSG and Al-Hilal on Tuesday reached an agreement on the transfer of the Brazil forward for a reported 90 million euros (USD 98 million), a record for a league that is now financially backed by the oil-rich state. Al Hilal, a record 18-time national champion, is one of four Saudi clubs effectively nationalized by the Public Investment Fund (PIF), the sovereign wealth fund that claims assets of about USD 700 billion.
The 31-year-old Neymar signed a two-year contract that is expected to earn him an annual salary of about USD 100 million. That would be around half of the reported salary being taken home by Cristiano Ronaldo, who plays for Al Nassr and whose move to Saudi in January sparked a slew of transfers to the kingdom by players like Karim Benzema, N'Golo Kante, Riyad Mahrez and Jordan Henderson.
Neymar has never won the Champions League with PSG after his move from Barcelona for 222 million euros (now USD 244 million), which remains a world-record transfer fee in soccer. He reportedly wanted to rejoin Barcelona but the Spanish club couldn't afford the financial package required for the transfer. No other top European club was willing or wealthy enough to sign him, who has struggled with injuries in recent years.
Neymar was an undoubtedly talented yet often frustrating figure at the PSG, which put together a star-studded forward line of Neymar, Kylian Mbappe and Lionel Messi and now only has one of them left. Messi joined Inter Miami this off-season and Mbappe has one year left on his deal, after which he is likely to move to Real Madrid.
PSG confirmed the departure of Neymar in a statement, with president Nasser Al-Khelaïfi describing him as "one of the best players in the world. I will never forget the day he arrived at Paris Saint-Germain, and what he has contributed to our club and our project over the last six years," Al-Khelaïfi said.
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