Al-Hilal plans to temporarily remove Neymar from the registration in the Saudi league to open up a foreign player slot in the team, as reported by Al-Riyadiyah, one of Saudi Arabia’s leading sports sources. This decision aims to facilitate the signing of a new foreign player when the transfer window opens in January.
The Saudi league imposes a limit of eight foreign players per club, and the AFC (Asian Football Confederation) restricts the participation of only six foreign players on the field during their competitions, such as the AFC Champions League.
Currently, the eight foreigners registered with Al-Hilal are:
Bono (Morocco, goalkeeper)
Koulibaly (Senegal, defender)
Rúben Neves (Portugal, midfielder)
Milinkovic-Savic (Serbia, midfielder)
Michael (Brazil, forward)
Malcom (Brazil, forward)
Mitrovic (Serbia, forward)
Neymar (Brazil, forward)
Neymar is in the recovery phase from knee surgery, with an expected return only at the end of April, in the most optimistic estimate. Thus, Al-Hilal aims to fill the vacancy left by the forward, who holds the highest salary in the team, while Neymar is not actively playing.
However, according to Al-Riyadiyah, Al-Hilal is specifically seeking a left-back, not necessarily an option for the attack. Since Neymar’s injury, the Saudi team has displayed an impressive performance, winning all six matches played and achieving 10 consecutive victories in all competitions.
Leading the Saudi Championship with 32 points, four more than the second-placed Al-Nassr, Jorge Jesus’ team will take the field this Friday against Al-Taawoun at 12:00 PM (Brasília time), for the 13th round of the tournament.
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