Kalidou Koulibaly, a Senegalese defender, has moved from Chelsea of the Premier League to Al-Hilal of the Saudi Arabian League.
The transfer was confirmed on Sunday by both teams.
Al-Hilal stated on Twitter, accompanying a short film showing Koulibaly, “We’ll continue to make history together,” and the tweet was accompanied by the video.
The club that has won the Asian Champions League an unprecedented four times said that Koulibaly’s deal will last through 2026 but did not provide any financial information. According to reports in British media, the Saudi club would pay about 21.61 million dollars (roughly 17 million pounds) for the center back.
“I’m here with those who make the glory in the present and the future,” the person who won the Africa Cup of Nations remarked.
After making the move to Chelsea from Napoli in July of last year, Koulibaly played 32 times across all competitions and scored two goals for the club.
The 32-year-old forward is the second player to join Al-Hilal from a club playing in the English Premier League. On Friday, Portugal midfielder Ruben Neves joined with Al-Hilal from Wolverhampton Wanderers.
As a result of Cristiano Ronaldo’s transfer to Al-Nassr in January of 2018, the Saudi Professional League has become more appealing to players residing in Europe.
In the beginning of this month, League Champions Al-Ittihad made the announcement that they had recruited Ballon d’Or winner Karim Benzema. Additionally, the club has revealed that former Chelsea midfielder N’Golo Kante would be joining them.
Al-Hilal is the most decorated club in Saudi Arabia and Asia, having won a total of 66 trophies between the two regions. They also hold the record for the most league victories (18) and Asian Champions titles (4) respectively.
After being dethroned from both the league and the Champions League, the Riyadh-based club has made it a top priority to strengthen their playing roster.
It has been reported in the Spanish media that they are also interested in signing Bernardo Silva, a midfielder currently playing for Manchester City.