Pedro Neto is the Chelsea player at the centre of Al Hilal’s fresh push. The Saudi champions have scheduled direct talks with Stamford Bridge this week, and Fabrizio Romano reported that a financial package has already been sent to the 26-year-old Portugal winger and his camp. Neto is understood to have given the move his approval.
The asking price is where the story either stalls or opens up. Chelsea value Neto at around £70m, a figure well above the £54m they paid Wolves for him in 2024. TalkSPORT has put the London club’s upper demand as high as £100m, and Manchester City are also lurking, with Enzo Maresca weighing Neto as a possible replacement for Savinho.
Xabi Alonso’s handling of Neto in pre-season has not looked like a manager clearing the decks. The Chelsea boss used Neto at wing-back in a 3-1 friendly win over Real Sociedad. Chelsea have also added Morgan Rogers to their attack this summer, meaning a substantial Saudi offer would test how much of the valuation gap the London club really intend to hold.
Kane’s brother meets Al Hilal in England
The Chelsea thread ties into a bigger one at Bayern Munich. Charlie Kane, who represents his brother Harry Kane, met Al Hilal’s technical director Simon Francis in England over the weekend, with Francis running the rule over striker targets. Kane himself sits at the top of that list.
Read also: 'I fully intend to lead by example': Wembanyama takes the France armband from Gobert
The England captain, who turned 33 in July, has signalled publicly that a conversation with Bayern is due.
“I only have one year left on my contract, so now is the time to talk about it,” Kane said. “We’ll discuss it next week or the week after.”
Bayern intend to keep him. The German champions have accelerated work on an extension that would run through June 2029, and TEAMtalk describes the Saudi move as “unlikely to succeed at this stage”.
Watkins is the Villa contingency
Ollie Watkins, 29, has taken things further. The Aston Villa striker has agreed personal terms with Al Hilal, though no formal bid has yet been lodged with Villa. Al Hilal turned to Watkins after their pursuit of Kane and Galatasaray’s Victor Osimhen, who is not keen on leaving Europe at this stage of his career, produced no breakthrough.
Read also: Six players out and Tchouameni benched as Mourinho starts his second Madrid era at Espanyol
Villa are said to be open to a sizeable offer, having previously sold Moussa Diaby and Jhon Duran to Saudi buyers. If a Neto departure at Chelsea does trigger the striker signing Al Hilal want, the domino would run from Riyadh to west London to Birmingham inside the last fortnight of the transfer window.
Neto’s route to Riyadh, if it opens, comes with a ready-made welcome. His Portugal team-mate Ruben Neves has been at Al Hilal since 2023 and the two overlapped at Wolves.
Read also: 'I'm not going to let it slide': Frenkie de Jong finally names the reporter he blames
