Jamie Gardner, PA Chief Sports Reporter
Neymar’s move to Saudi Arabian club Al Hilal is set to be completed in the next 48 hours, the PA news agency understands.
Sources close to Paris St Germain say the club are set to receive up to €100 million from Al Hilal for the 31-year-old Brazilian as they rebuild their squad around younger, up-and-coming players.
The deal has been sanctioned by PSG because Spanish coach Luis Enrique was open to letting Neymar leave. Selling Neymar would also shift his €25 million annual wage off the club’s books, with his existing contract due to run until the summer of 2025.
News of Neymar’s imminent exit comes less than 24 hours after the club confirmed striker Kylian Mbappe had been reinstated to first-team training.
📸👇 https://t.co/OGJBt7Tlm4 pic.twitter.com/db41J8SYMN
— Paris Saint-Germain (@PSG_English) August 13, 2023
Mbappe is understood to have indicated his commitment to the club, who have offered him a contract with a “guaranteed sale” clause in it allowing him to seal a move to Real Madrid next summer for a fee.
The club had been convinced Mbappe was preparing to let his current deal run out, which would have allowed him to leave Paris and join Real on a free transfer next year.
The club acted by omitting the player from the pre-season tour of Japan and South Korea and forcing him to train away from the main first-team group, until the thaw in relations confirmed on Sunday.
They had also granted Mbappe permission to talk to Al Hilal after receiving a world record £259 million bid for the player in July, but it was reported the 24-year-old refused to even meet with a delegation from the Saudi club.
The imminent exit for big money of Neymar and the news on Mbappe marks a major and positive turnaround for PSG.
The French champions are consciously moving away from what their president Nasser Al Khelaifi has called their “bling bling” era, with Argentina playmaker Lionel Messi also exiting the club earlier this summer.
Neymar’s signing for a world record £200 million fee in 2017 arguably marked the start of that era, but the club’s incomings this summer indicate a difference in approach, with the likes of 22-year-old Portugal striker Goncalo Ramos changing the profile of the team.
