Al-Hilal abandons Raphinha pursuit to sign Crysencio Summerville for a record fee

Saudi Arabian club Al-Hilal has made another sensational move in the transfer market. The Riyadh-based side has finalized the signing of West Ham winger Crysencio Summerville for approximately 80 million euros. It has been revealed that failed negotiations with Barcelona and unexpected decisions lie behind this deal. This is reported by Goal.com reports.

One of the influential sources in the Saudi football world, Mohammed Al-Bukairy, revealed the behind-the-scenes details of this transfer on his X (formerly Twitter) account. It turns out that Al-Hilal initially fought hard for Barcelona star Raphinha and made an official offer to the Catalans.

Why did negotiations with Barcelona collapse?

According to initial plans, Al-Hilal was ready to pay 80 million euros for Raphinha. At the same time, the Saudis offered to help with the issue of Portuguese defender João Cancelo, who was playing on loan at Barcelona at the time. The plan was to resolve the Cancelo situation in exchange for a 20 million euro discount on the transfer fee.

However, the demand made by Barcelona president Joan Laporta led the negotiations to a dead end. Laporta demanded that the requested amount for the Brazilian player be raised to 100 million euros. The Al-Hilal management openly labeled this demand as "financial extortion" and decided to immediately close the files on the Raphinha transfer.

New target: Crysencio Summerville

After the Raphinha option was rejected, the club officials quickly began searching for a worthy replacement. It was at this moment that the name of 24-year-old Dutch winger Crysencio Summerville, who is performing brilliantly for West Ham, emerged. Al-Hilal scouts and management highly valued the player's technical abilities and focused their main attention on him.

It is noted that the Italian club Roma was also active in this transfer race, but thanks to Al-Hilal's financial power and swift actions, the player is set to head to Saudi Arabia. The 80 million euro deal has become one of the largest transfers not only for the club but for the entire region.

This transfer once again proved that the Saudi Pro League can attract not only veteran stars but also young and talented players who have already made a name for themselves in Europe. Crysencio Summerville will now strengthen Al-Hilal's attacking line and serve the team's goals in domestic and international competitions.