Brazil international Malcom looks set to become the next highly decorated pro to move to the Saudi Pro League. Aleksandr Medvedev, chief executive of Zenit St. Petersburg, confirmed to the Russian state news agency, “RIA Novosti“ that agreement has been reached with Al-Hilal SFC on the transfer of the 26-year-old striker. It will be a transfer record for both Saudi Arabia’s Premier League and Premier League.
“Negotiations with Saudi Arabian club Al-Hilal on the terms of the transfer of Zenit player Malcom have been completed. The transfer fee is 60 million euros, half of which has to be paid as a first installment for the transfer to take effect. All payments will be completed before the end of the 2023/24 season. No bonuses are provided. 60 million euros is a fixed amount,” said Medvedev accordingly. The attacker is said to collect 18 million euros a year in Riyadh.
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Jason Denayer | 2023/24 | Shabab Al Ahli Dubai -> Al Fateh | Market value: €5 million
Malcom switched from FC Barcelona to Zenit in 2019 for 40 million euros, making it the most expensive entry in Russian league history. When the move to Riyadh is complete, he will replace his compatriot Hulk (36) as the most expensive departure: the striker went from St. Petersburg to Shanghai in 2016 for 56 million euros. For Saudi Arabia, Malcom will surpass the transfer record just set by future team-mate Rúben Neves (26), when the Portuguese midfielder cost €55m. According to the newspaper “Mundo Deportivo”, Barça will benefit from the transfer due to a resale clause.
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Saudi Arabia: Al-Hilal with record spending on transfers outside Europe
Al-Hilal will boost their transfer spend to €178m with Malcom’s arrival, only Arsenal have so far spent more money on newcomers this summer. Outside of Europe, however, no club has ever invested so much in a transfer period. Shanghai Port (then SIPG) holds the previous record with 123.3 million euros for Hulk, Oscar (31) and Co. 2016/17. In addition to Neves and soon to be Malcom, Kalidou Koulibaly (32) and Sergej Milinković-Savić (28) also joined the Saudi record champions this summer, which belongs to the sovereign wealth fund PIF chaired by Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman. Aleksandar Mitrović (28; Fulham) should follow soon.
Speaking about the fee for the winger, Medvedev said: “This amount reflects a simple fact: Malcom was the best player in the RPL last season and was the top scorer with 23 goals.”
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