"We wanted to bring in a top winger like him" - Al Ahli executive admits Vinicius' failed move

One of this summer's rumour bombshells has linked Saudi Arabia's Al Ahli with the possibility of signing Vinicius. An operation that, of course, was not going to be cheap, as the Brazilian has a termination clause of around €1 billion. However, money has never been a problem for the Arab giants.
An alleged offer that ended up being confirmed by Al Ahli Foundation board chairman Khaled Al-Issa in an interview for the Arab media ‘Koora Rotana’: "We had the desire to bring in a top winger - Vinicius - but during the negotiations something unexpected happened, that the Saudi players went to professionalize according to the scholarship program".
"Firas Al-Braikan would have turned professional, so the priority changed to signing a striker and we negotiated with Ivan Toney and Victor Osimhen," he added.
All this was triggered by the departure of Allan Saint-Maximin to Fenerbahce and the offer for Vinicius was intended to be a massive one. However, never without reaching the 1,000 million euros clause to which Madrid referred, but with an astronomical salary: 5 years for 1,000 million euros, making it the best contract in the history of the sport, as reported by several Brazilian media.
Finally, the president of Al Ahli warns of the upcoming winter transfer window: "God willing, in winter we will sign a winger who will exceed expectations".