Saudi Pro League giants Al Hilal interested in signing Rafael Leao

The 24-year-old is in the Portugal squad for the upcoming Euro 2024

The Saudi Pro League 2023-24 season is almost over. Only two league fixtures of each of the 18 clubs participating in the year’s competition are left to be played out. Although fixtures remain, it has been almost two weeks since the champion was announced. Al Hilal have already won the title taking their all-time tally to be crowned domestic champions a total of 19 times.

The landscape of Saudi football has completely transformed since the start of a new era post the signing of global superstar Cristiano Ronaldo. Ronaldo shocked the footballing world after deciding to join Al Nassr after his departure from Manchester United. Since then top talents from across Europe have made their way to the land of the Middle East.

The Portuguese talent, Ronaldo was in the picture of Saudi football since joining back in January 2023. Till then no one was sure of future updates. Then came the summer and major overhaul of clubs particularly backed by the Public Investment Fund (PIF) of Saudi Arabia.

Al Hilal, the current champions of SPL, have so far welcomed major signings such as Malcom, Rúben Neves, Aleksandar Mitrovic, Sergej Milinković-Savić and many others. The standout signing was the arrival of former FC Barcelona superstar Neymar. The Brazilian’s services were secured after agreeing to a €90 million transfer sum with his at that time parent club Paris Saint-Germain.

Do you think they will stop the spending spree? It doesn’t seem as such. Now reportedly, the champs of Saudi football are looking to bring further chaos in the division by signing Rafael Leão. Leão is supposedly said to have a release clause of €175 million. This shouldn’t be a big deal for the riches of the PIF-backed Al Hilal.

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Rafael Leao’s dip in form during 2023-24 season

The AC Milan superstar has been a shadow himself this season. In the previous Serie A campaign, he had managed to score 15 goals after playing 35 league fixtures. This season, after making 33 appearances, the 24-year-old Portuguese winger could only manage eight goals. That’s a drop clearly.

Portugal national football team head coach Roberto Martinez may have included the Rossoneri player for the upcoming Euro 2024 but it is unlikely that top European clubs will be eager to trigger his release clause at the moment. The reports also said Leão’s father is about to visit Saudi Arabia to have a discussion over this potential switch to Al Hilal.

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