Brazil star Neymar is undergoing a medical with Saudi giants Al-Hilal ahead of a move away from Paris Saint Germain this summer, it has emerged.
The 31-year-old was one of several players left out of PSG’s Ligue 1 opener against lowly Lorient, which ended goalless. It comes after Neymar was told that he was no longer in PSG’s plans for the upcoming season, with the Brazilian set to follow former teammate Lionel Messi out of the exit door at the Parc des Princes this summer.
Though he was keen on a Barcelona reunion, Xavi’s side never truly reciprocated the interest and, with his time in Paris over, Neymar is now set to be the latest mega name to join the Saudi pro league this summer.
Al-Hilal will pay PSG 90m euros to complete the deal, while Neymar himself will earn around 200m euros per season for his two year stay.
Still just 31-years-old, the Brazil captain will be the most-high profile capture of the division so far this summer, and is joining a side that have already signed Kalidou Koulibaly, Sergej Milinkovic-Savic, Ruben Neves and Malcolm, while they have also reportedly re-opened talks for Fulham striker Aleksander Mitrovic.
They lost the Arab Club Champions Cup to Cristiano Ronaldo’s Al-Nassr on Saturday, and the arrival of Neymar would go a long way towards fostering a longer term rivalry between two of the Pro League’s biggest clubs.
Neymar will sign a two year deal with the Saudi champions, and leaves Europe with a strong sense of ‘what if’. Electric at Barcelona, he never found his form fully at Paris Saint Germain and found himself increasingly sidelined by injury, the latest issue ruling him out of the last half of last season.
Though he remains the record transfer in football history, he never truly lived up to the expectations that surrounded him from a teenager at Santos.
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