Fantastic fans, a giant club and great league quality? Neymar explains his move to Saudi Arabia

Neymar is now officially a player of Saudi Arabian club Al-Hilal and a new challenge awaits him, and he will earn fabulous money not only in terms of what he shows on the pitch. But would he go to the Middle East for that? No way. The Brazilian revealed why he made the move.

When he came to Europe, he was supposed to be one of the greatest talents of all time. He was expected to battle with Cristiano Ronaldo and Lionel Messi for the Ballon d’Or year after year. But he never quite fulfilled his potential.

He may be a fantastic footballer, but Neymar was definitely capable of more. At a moment when Ronaldo and Messi are no longer playing in Europe, he could still have tried to stay in Europe and try to compete for some major individual awards, but instead he is leaving Europe.

From PSG, Neymar made his way to Saudi Arabia, signing for Al-Hilal. “I achieved a lot in Europe, it was an exceptional period, but I always wanted to be a global player, to face new challenges and play in different places,” talkSPORT quotes Neymar as saying.

Understandably, many believe that money was the Brazilian magician’s main motivation for the transfer. But he has cited several other reasons for leaving Europe. A big paycheck is not one of them.

“I want to write a new sporting history, the Saudi Pro League has a huge energy, quality and great players at the moment. Al-Hilal is a huge club with fantastic fans, it is the best in Asia. This makes me feel it’s the right decision for me at the right time with the right club,” says Neymar.

Moreover, the Brazilian revealed that the fact that a lot of his compatriots are based in Saudi Arabia helped him in his decision, thanks to which he has heard a lot about the country and the league.

Neymar joins the likes of Cristiano Ronaldo, Karim Benzema, Sadio Mané, Roberto Firmino, Kalidou Koulibaly and Sergej Milinkovic-Savic.

Source: Al-Hilal, talkSPORT