Saudi Pro League bosses are reportedly willing to pay Brazil star Vinicius Junior €1 BILLION to tempt him away from Real Madrid.
Vinicius has been a Madrid player for six seasons, since joining from Flamengo in 2018.
The 24-year-old has scored 83 goals in 264 games for Los Blancos and won 12 trophies, including two UEFA Champions League crowns.
According to ge.globo.com, a proposal from Saudi Arabia’s Public Investment Fund for Vinicius to join Al-Ahli has been verbally delivered to the player’s representatives.
The offer is said to be worth €1bn over five years – with the proposed annual salary 13 times higher than Vinicius is currently earning at the Bernabeu.
It is also claimed that Vinicius would be given the freedom to decide whether or not he wanted to stay in Saudi Arabia for the full duration of his contract.
Cristiano Ronaldo is currently the highest paid player in Saudi Arabia – and world football – with Al Nassr, who are also owned by the PIF, paying him around €200m per year.
However, Ronaldo’s contract is not as long – and therefore not worth as much – as the one apparently being offered to Vinicius.
Vinicius is under contract with his current club for another three years, so Al-Ahli would need to agree a deal with Madrid as well as with the player.
That would likely double the overall cost as the report claims that Madrid will demand a transfer fee of €1bn.
The biggest transfer in world football to date was Neymar‘s €222m move from Barcelona to Paris Saint-Germain in 2017.
Neymar has since left PSG and now players for Al-Hilal – another club in the PIF’s portfolio – in Saudi Arabia.
Meanwhile, Al-Ahli’s current squad includes the likes of Riyad Mahrez, Edouard Mendy, Franck Kessie and Roberto Firmino.
Al-Hilal won the Saudi Pro League last season after going unbeaten across their 34 fixtures. Neymar only played in three of those games due to an ACL injury.
Ronaldo’s Al Nassr came second, with Al-Ahli third.
Source:www.dailymail.co.uk