Last June, 60,000 people gathered at King Abdullah Stadium to attend Karim Benzema's presentation at Al-Ittihad. Fireworks, music, fervour of the supporters... The memorable evening inspired the leaders of Al-Hilal, the club that Neymar will join in the coming hours.
The 31-year-old Brazilian will sign a juicy contract with the Saudi club, which has reached an agreement with Paris Saint-Germain to the tune of 90 million euros. Hired for two years, Neymar will receive an annual salary of 100 million euros, which would place him among the 4 best paid footballers in the world (with Benzema, Cristiano Ronaldo and N'Golo Kanté).
According to the Daily Mail, Al-Hilal wants to organize a presentation that lives up to these figures. "Officials, whether it is the Public Investment Fund (PIF) or Al-Hilal, will get everything they need" to prepare the best evening possible, an expert told the British newspaper.
Understand: spectacular logistics, similar to the opening ceremonies of the biggest sporting events. "Expect them to spend millions," the expert adds. It will be the elite. There will be production, creative directors, show directors, lighting directors. There will be fireworks, drone shows, music – it will be a major project and they will want as much media as possible to get as much exposure as possible. »
Neymar spent six seasons at Paris Saint-Germain, after his arrival from Barcelona in 2017, made possible by the payment of his release clause set at 222 million euros. He was paid around 45 million euros per year to PSG.