Fulham boss Marco Silva 'believed to be considering move to Al-Hilal'

Fulham boss Marco Silva ‘is believed to be considering a big-money move to Al-Hilal’ – as Saudi Pro League continues their aggressive recruitment drive

  • Manager’s £6m release clause could be easily taken care of by PIF-owned side
  • Silva steered Fulham to a 10th place finish and just shy of best-ever points total
  • Al-Hilal has already looked into Ruben Neves, Bernardo Silva, and Alvaro Morata 

Fulham head coach Marco Silva is believed to be considering a lucrative move to manager in the Saudi Pro League, according to reports. 

The Portuguese manager had a successful season with the Cottagers, steering the west London side to a 10th place finish and a points total just one shy of their best-ever top flight haul. 

Silva is under contract with Fulham until June 2024, and his deal comes with a punchy £6million release clause should any club wish to tempt the manager away from Craven Cottage. 

Al-Hilal – one of the four Saudi Pro League clubs owned by the Kingdom’s sovereign wealth fund PIF – has been without a manager since the exit of former coach Ramon Diaz, and the side is thought to have previously opened talks with Roma manager Jose Mourinho. 

But, as per the i, whilst Silva is mulling over the offer made by the Riyadh outfit, he is likely to be convinced by the comparable prestige of staying in the Premier League.

Al-Hilal are keen to tempt Fulham boss Marco Silva away from London with a lucrative offer


The club have also made offers to sign Bernardo Silva (left) and Ruben Neves (right)

The Saudi Pro League has ramped up efforts to sign top international talent during the summer transfer window. 

Wolves’ Ruben Neves is believed to be making a £47m move to Al-Hilal that would make him the most expensive player sold by the club in their history. 

The club is also pushing hard to convince Treble-winner Bernardo Silva to make the move from Manchester City, with an offer of wages north of £75m per season, and have previously been linked to Atletico Madrid striker Alvaro Morata. 

Al-Ittihad, another club owned by the PIF, have already inked deals for megawatt stars Karim Benzema and N’Golo Kante, and emissaries from the league have their sights set on luring yet more European top flight talents to the Gulf. 

Chelsea may profit the most keenly from the recruitment drive, with offers reportedly being prepared for Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang, Hakim Ziyech, Edouard Mendy, and Callum Hudson-Odoi. 

Saudi suitors for a number of players the Blues are desperate to see off their books could go some way to offsetting the £600m the club has spent during the last two transfer windows. 


Karim Benzema (left) and N’Golo Kante (right) are two of the stars tempted to the Kingdom

In order to stay active in the transfer market, Chelsea will need to make a number of player sales over the summer to ensure their compliance with Financial Fair Play regulations. 

Saudi’s bombastic movement in the window has attracted criticism from a number of sources, including Gary Neville, who called for an ‘agile’ investigation into the league’s recruitment strategy on Tuesday. 

Neville wrote on Instagram: ‘Any chance the Premier League can look into this Saudi trading like NOW!!!

‘Get a Regulator in asap that’s agile enough to stop these things at source! If it doesn’t look right it’s probably not right! Independence is required asap. The Governance of our game is a mess!’

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