Fulham have announced the departure of striker Aleksandar Mitrovic to Al Hilal for a club-record fee.
Mitrovic was a target for Al Hilal earlier this summer, but Fulham turned down many offers for the striker, who made it very obvious that he wanted the opportunity to talk about a transfer to the Middle East.
After concentrating their efforts on signing Neymar, Al Hilal switched their attention back to Mitrovic and submitted an offer worth about £50 million for the 28-year-old, which Fulham ultimately accepted.
Fulham have now confirmed the deal is done, bidding farewell to Mitrovic after five years at Craven Cottage.
After Fulham’s Saturday loss to Brentford, manager Marco Silva, who turned down his own move to Saudi Arabia this summer, said Mitrovic had been able to negotiate his way out of Craven Cottage.
“As you know, he forced everything to leave the club,” Silva said. “He wanted to leave the club.
“Until the moment we had a financial agreement, we kept him in our football club. They have reached an agreement and now is the moment for us to keep playing and working with our team.”
Along with Neymar, Mitrovic will team up with another Serbian international Sergej Milinkovic-Savic, as well as Kalidou Koulibaly and Ruben Neves, both of whom he previously worked with in the Premier League.
Al Hilal has also signed Malcom from Brazil and Sevilla’s Yassine Bounou, a goalkeeper.
The Club can confirm that Aleksandar Mitrović has this evening left to join Al Hilal in the Saudi Pro League for a Club record transfer fee.
— Fulham Football Club (@FulhamFC) August 19, 2023