RIYADH: There is no stopping Al-Hilal when it comes to the transfer market at the moment.
After being banned from the last two transfer windows, the Riyadh giants signed Ruben Neves on Friday, and on Sunday added Kalidou Koulibaly to their ranks.
The Senegalese star arrives from Chelsea for an undisclosed fee. Whatever the price, his new Blues team will be hoping that the 32-year-old can do in Riyadh what another African center-back did in Jeddah for Al-Ittihad.
Ahmed Hegazi was a standout last season and an inspirational figure as Ittihad took the title. As is always the case, the goalscorers and the creators such as Abderrazak Hamdallah, Romarinho and Igor Coronado grabbed the headlines, but the Egyptian legend was a rock at the back.
Some would even go as far as saying he was the best player not only at Al-Ittihad but throughout the whole league. It was not just about keeping it tight with just 13 goals conceded in 30 games — and title challenges are built on strong defenses — but his ability to start attacks and also cause problems at the other end.
His four goals made a difference, but more important were his leadership skills. It is worrying for Ittihad that Hegazi ended the season by picking up a serious injury, and coach Nuno Santo will be hoping that the former West Bromich Albion star recovers sooner rather than later, and he has said he hopes to be back in time for the Club World Cup in December.
Hegazi’s impact in his two seasons in Saudi Arabia so far has not gone unnoticed in Riyadh, and with South Korea’s Jang Hyun-soo — who has been a fine servant for the club — expected to return to East Asia, there was a need to reinforce the backline.
Koulibaly is seen as the answer to Al-Hilal’s issues at the back, which saw them concede more than double the number of goals that Al-Ittihad allowed. The defense was one of the major differences between them last season, and Hegazi played a major part in that.
Now it is time for Koulibaly to show what he can do. Born in France but choosing to represent Senegal, the country of his parents, he really made a name for himself as part of Napoli’s defense from 2014 to 2022.
To play consistently for eight seasons in Italy is no mean feat, and there were over 60 appearances in various European tournaments. He made the move to West London in the summer of last year in a deal reported to be around $40 million. It was not the most successful of seasons for the team, who saw Thomas Tuchel leave to be replaced by Graham Potter (himself replaced by Frank Lampard), and a 12th-place finish is obviously unacceptable for a team who were champions of Europe in 2021.
It is hard to say where Al-Hilal will finish next season, but it is highly unlikely to be 12th. And history tells us that when the 18-time champions miss out and have, by their standards, a below-par season, then the rest of the league should watch out. There was always going to be a clear-out this summer, and after recent transfer activity that started with Neves and now Koulibaly, there is a sense of a new team being built, especially as there is more to come.
This is not a huge headline-grabbing signing — a central defender in his 30s will rarely be that — but with the greatest respect to those already there, his arrival will be an upgrade. A great reader of the game, quick to recover, comfortable in possession and a cool character, the Senegalese captain — who scored the vital goal that took the Lions of Teranga out of the group stage and into the last 16 of the 2022 World Cup, and whose most recent game came in a 4-2 win over Brazil in Lisbon last week — should settle in Saudi Arabia with little problem.
He also has another role. There is a growing number of exciting world-class attacking players in Saudi Arabia, and the presence of an experienced defender with leadership qualities in abundance should be a real asset and help to those around him. Youngsters at Al-Hilal and elsewhere in the country can learn from Koulibaly as much as they can learn from some of the more glamorous attackers in the league.
Al-Hilal have strengthened their spine considerably in the last few days, and there is more to come. Lionel Messi may not have signed, but fans of the most successful club in Asia must be quietly confident already as they look toward the new season.
