By CNN
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Paris Saint-Germain has agreed to a deal with Saudi club Al-Hilal to sell forward Neymar Jr. for a fee of around €90 million ($98.5M) plus add-ons, according to multiple reports.
Ekhbariya, a state–owned television company in Saudi Arabia, posted on social media on Monday: “Al-Hilal club officially agrees with Brazilian star Neymar in a record transfer deal from Paris Saint-Germain. The Brazilian Neymar will wear number 10 with his new team.”
According to Sky Sports, the 31-year-old is set to undergo a medical on Monday before completing a two-year deal within 24 hours.
When contacted by CNN, a spokesperson for PSG said the club had “no information to give currently.” CNN has also reached out to Al-Hilal.
Should the transfer be completed, PSG will reportedly get back less than half the world record €222 million (approximately $243.1M) fee it paid for the Brazilian back in 2017.
When Neymar joined PSG from Barcelona, he was seemingly the marquee signing that was supposed to signal the start of an era of dominance for PSG in Europe.
However, in the intervening six years, the club has failed to win the Champions League and Neymar appears to now be surplus to requirements as the club changes tack from signing high-profile superstars to exciting youngsters.
In six years in the French capital, Neymar has helped PSG win 13 major trophies, including five league titles and three French Cups.
However, the closest the Parisian club came to winning European soccer’s biggest cup competition was a loss to Bayern Munich in the 2020 final.
At one point, PSG had Neymar, Kylian Mbappé and Lionel Messi in its team as it chased that elusive Champions League title, but the superstar trio never truly gelled in key European matches.
Messi is now playing in Major League Soccer for Inter Miami, while Mbappé has one year left on his contract and his future in Paris is still uncertain.
Now, Neymar looks to set to join a fast-growing list of star names moving to the Saudi Pro League.
Portugal forward Cristiano Ronaldo signed a two-and-a-half year contract reported to be worth more than 200 million euros ($220.16 million) with Al-Nassr in December after leaving Manchester United.
Since then, Karim Benzema, N’Golo Kanté, Kalidou Koulibaly, Edouard Mendy and Roberto Firmino, Sadio Mané and Marcelo Brozović have been among the star names to move to the Saudi Pro League.
