Al-Hilal in BIZARRE transfer talks for Kante and Mahrez after Osimhen snub

Tom Weber

10 Jun 2025 17:00 BST
5 min read

Victor Osimhen, Simone Inzaghi, Al-Hilal — © IMAGO

Al-Hilal are so desperate to add superstars to their Club World Cup roster that they have opened talks with their Saudi Pro League rivals over several star players.

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The Riyadh giants have been snubbed by a host of European stars, including the likes of Victor Osimhen, Bruno Fernandes and Theo Hernandez. Despite offering hugely lucrative deals, Asia's most decorated club have so far struggled to attract their top targets.

On Monday, it emerged that they had begun exploring deals for alternative European targets such as Darwin Nunez, Jadon Sancho and Angelino. Saudi media later claimed that Nunez had also turned down Al-Hilal, while reports of an agreement with Roma for Angelino turned out to be premature.

Current ETV

Victor Osimhen

F (C)

Galatasaray

Victor Osimhen

F (C)

Galatasaray

ETV Range

€61.1M - €74.7M

This has forced Al-Hilal to sound out yet more contingency options, and they have even resorted to exploring deals much closer to home. According to David Ornstein of The Athletic, Al-Hilal are closing in on a loan deal for Al-Ittihad midfielder N'Golo Kante.

The Chelsea legend is said to be open to the move, and a deal is expected to materialise. The loan would only run for the duration of the Club World Cup.

Al-Hilal approach Ronaldo and Mahrez

According to Saudi transfer expert Ben Jacobs, Al-Hilal have also approached Cristiano Ronaldo and Riyad Mahrez for similarly structured loan deals. These advances, however, appear to have been unsuccessful.

Unlike Kante, Ronaldo refused to entertain such a short-term move to his city rivals. The Portuguese megastar is on the verge of agreeing a new €400 million contract with Al-Nassr. Al-Hilal reportedly also offered the 40-year-old a permanent contract.

© IMAGO - N'Golo Kante has been approached by Al-Hilal

Regarding Mahrez, Jacobs states that 'pushback' came from his club Al-Ahli rather than the player himself. It will be interesting to see if Al-Hilal also make an approach for Mahrez's teammate Roberto Firmino. The Liverpool legend is expected to leave Al-Ahli this summer.

There is optimism that Kante will make the move to Al-Hilal, while talks with the aforementioned Angelino remain ongoing. Given how shambolic Al-Hilal's window has been so far, it remains to be seen if they will be able to strike these deals - and potentially add more big names - before the deadline.

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