Al Hilal are offering Kalidou Kouilbaly a €30m a year deal to play for them in the Saudi Pro League, Gianluca Di Marzio reported last night.
It’s part of what looks like a major wave of players from across the continent heading to the oil rich Middle Eastern nation. Chelsea have been looking to get rid of the Senegal star after a disappointing year at the club, and this works nicely.
What we haven’t heard about is whether he will earn a major fee for Chelsea. The Saudi teams are extremely rich, but they aren’t foolish and they know Chelsea need to sell. The vast wage is necessary to get the player to abandon European football and move there, but they won’t necessarily pay a big fee. They know they’re doing Chelsea a favour by taking a big earner off their books.
So it’s a big boost, but it won’t solve everything.
