Ruben Neves leaves Wolves to complete club-record Al Hilal transfer
Ruben Neves has swapped Wolves for Al Hilal; the midfielder had one year left on his contract and becomes the club's most-expensive sale.
By Tom Gott
Wolves have confirmed the departure of midfielder and captain Ruben Neves, who has joined Saudi Arabian side Al Hilal for a club-record fee.
The 26-year-old's contract had just one year left to run and, despite interest from across Europe, has opted to take his talents to Saudi Arabia, netting Wolves a fee of around £45m.
🎬 من معقل "الذئـاب" إلى #كبير_آسيا 💙#الهلال pic.twitter.com/lAsh8CWCfX
— نادي الهلال السعودي (@Alhilal_FC) June 23, 2023
An emotional Neves confirmed his departure with a video message to Wolves fans.
He said: "Wolves. Six seasons. 253 games. Champions of the Championship. Five years of Premier League football. An FA Cup semi-final. Our European adventure and some huge wins. 30 goals. 13 assists. Thousands of memories that will last forever. What an unbelievable journey.
"I cannot thank you enough for the welcome. I cannot thank you enough for the way you treat me and mainly for the way you adopted my family as one of your own. The way you support the team is unreal.
"I was surprised when I came at the start of the Championship season, and now, I will be one of you, a massive fan, for life.
READ MORE ON THE PLAYERS LINKED TO SAUDI ARABIA & THE MONEY ON OFFER
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"It really feels like home here, and we will never, ever forget you. Six years is a long way, a long time. My kids grew up in Wolverhampton. They were so happy here. Me and my lovely wife will never forget the time we had here as a family.
"I hope we can keep this big connection. I leave as a player, but I will always be a wolf. No matter what. Thank you for everything."
Neves joins an Al Hilal side who are also looking to wrap up a deal for Chelsea centre-back Kalidou Koulibaly, and the Saudi outfit have also offered an enormous contract to Manchester City's Bernardo Silva to try and tempt him over to the Middle East.
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On this week's edition of Talking Transfers, part of the 90min podcast network, Toby Cudworth is joined by Graeme Bailey and Sean Walsh to discuss the latest transfer news. On the agenda is Arsenal's approach for Jurrien Timber, Kai Havertz and Declan Rice, the exodus of Chelsea players to Saudi Arabia, Moises Caicedo, Kyle Walker, Man Utd's goalkeeper plans & more!
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