Neymar has arrived in Saudi Arabia after agreeing a deal to move from French side Paris Saint-Germain to the Saudi Pro League.
The forward landed at Riyadh’s King Khalid International Airport having departed PSG to join Al-Hilal.
He was photographed boarding a largely empty jumbo jet in Paris and later landing in the Middle Eastern nation.
The 31-year-old was wearing a cream tracksuit and a large diamond-encrusted cross as he left for the the conservative Islamic country.
On his arrival, he draped an Al-Hilal scarf around his shoulders as he was greeted and was given a bouquet of flowers by his hosts.
Neymar agreed a £86.3m deal to join the Saudi Pro League earlier this month, adding to the list of big names to leave Europe for the fabulously well-paid Arabian competition.
He spent some time signing autographs for fans as he made his way through the airport.
The forward wore a scarf from his new club, Al Hilal
The Brazilian will take home £129.2m a year in Saudi Arabia, according to Sky Sports News – six times the amount he earned at PSG.
Cristiano Ronaldo, Karim Benzema, Jordan Henderson and Sadio Mane are among the football stars to have also made the move to the Saudi Pro League.
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The star was handed a bouquet of flowers
He paused to sign autographs
“I believe Cristiano Ronaldo started all of this and everybody called him ‘crazy’, and this and that. Today you see the league grow more and more,” Neymar said in his first interview after the transfer on Wednesday.
“It is exciting, meeting top-quality players on the other teams thrills you and motivates you to play even better. And it is a given when you face Ronaldo, Benzema, (Roberto) Firmino, that the excitement is even greater,” he added.
Neymar won five league titles during his time in France with PSG but failed to bring the Champions League to Paris, despite reaching the final in 2019-20. He previously won the Champions League with Barcelona in 2014-15.
Despite being one of the world’s most talented players, he has also so far failed to win major honours with Brazil and his time at PSG was disrupted by injuries and off-the-field controversies.
His departure has been seen as ending an era of PSG signing football’s superstars, with Lionel Messi also leaving this summer to play for Inter Miami in the US.
However, despite a record-breaking bid from Saudi Arabia earlier this summer, French star Kylian Mbappe is expected to stay in Paris.
Neymar’s new club, Al-Hilal, is one of four Saudi clubs to have been effectively nationalised by the state-run Public Investment Fund (PIF), which claims assets of about £550bn.
They include the LIV Golf series that challenged the PGA Tour before the two organisations agreed to join forces.
PIF is chaired by the Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman, whose ambitions in global sports have become a signature policy.
