Marked for Malcom
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Market1 Feb 2027
“This is not anger. I have thought about it for months, and nothing that has happened lately changed my mind.” The request is on a desk at Al-Hilal, and it is not being withdrawn.
Squad1 Feb 2027
At 20, Saïmon Bouabré is already the best thing here
An average of 7.30 in a first team he is several years too young for. Al-Hilal have something, and by now the whole division has noticed.
Market1 Feb 2027
“I want to be playing for trophies while my legs still let me.” Nothing in that sentence is a transfer request, and nobody at Al-Hilal heard it as anything else.
Market1 Feb 2027
Al-Hilal say no — this time
The offer from JS Kabylie for Mathieu Patouillet was heard out and sent back the same day. First bids are rarely meant to succeed; they are meant to find out how loudly the door closes.
Match30 Jan 2027
No end in sight to Al-Hilal's wait for a win
4 matches now without a victory, and the excuses have worn thinner than the patience. Somebody at Al-Hilal has to find a result from somewhere.
Squad1 Feb 2027
Sergej Milinković-Savić was at the centre of it, and by the time it was pulled apart there were three or four others involved. Training grounds are small places and long seasons make them smaller.
Squad1 Feb 2027
9 goals and a season average of 7.53. Form like that gets noticed well beyond this town.
Loan watch1 Feb 2027
20 appearances away from home and 14 goals to show for them. Every one of them makes next summer's conversation a little more expensive.
Player ratings1 Feb 2027
One of those days for Malcom
There is a version of this player everybody suspected was in there, and on this evidence it is. 8.76, and no argument anywhere in the ground.
Back issues
From our football correspondent
Crisis
Market25 Jan 2027
The offer was not close and it was refused without much discussion. Whether the second one is refused as quickly is another matter.
Player ratings25 Jan 2027
Successful dribbles: 25. There is a particular sort of despair on a full-back's face by the seventieth minute, and it was on display.
Market25 Jan 2027
Al-Wehda pay $2.4M, and the deal is done. The number reads well on a balance sheet; whether it reads well on the pitch is next season's question.
Squad25 Jan 2027
Kalidou Koulibaly was at the centre of it, and by the time it was pulled apart there were three or four others involved. Training grounds are small places and long seasons make them smaller.
Market25 Jan 2027
The phone has started ringing about Moteb Al-Harbi again, and this time the name on the line is Al-Khaleej. Al-Hilal are listening politely and promising nothing.
Squad25 Jan 2027
8 goals and a season average of 7.49. Form like that gets noticed well beyond this town.
Squad25 Jan 2027
Rúben Neves gets it from the manager
“Nobody here is above being told.” It was not said with a name attached, but the dressing room can count, and so can everybody who was listening.
Match23 Jan 2027
1‑2 to Al-Ittihad, and no complaints worth printing. The performance asked for nothing more than it got.
Boardroom25 Jan 2027
1004% of the income goes out in wages at Al-Hilal
Every club in football pays most of what it earns to its players. Paying nearly all of it is a different arrangement, and it has ended the same way every time somebody has tried it.
From our football correspondent
Upbeat
Market11 Jan 2027
Al-Hilal say no — this time
The offer from Al-Wehda for Mohamed Kanno was heard out and sent back the same day. First bids are rarely meant to succeed; they are meant to find out how loudly the door closes.
Squad11 Jan 2027
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Al-Hilal this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Squad11 Jan 2027
“The easiest signature of my career.” Leo Duru and Al-Hilal agree another 5 years, and the manager can plan around him rather than about him.
Squad11 Jan 2027
The manager makes an example of Darwin Núñez
“If you cannot run for the shirt, somebody else will wear it.” No name was used and none was needed; every player in that room knew who it was for.
Squad11 Jan 2027
Defences have started doubling up on Darwin Núñez
6 goals and a season average of 7.51 will do that. The space he used to find has gone; he keeps scoring anyway, which is the mark of the real thing.
Player ratings11 Jan 2027
Marked 9.07 — the sort of number a correspondent writes down twice to be sure. Everything he tried came off, and what he did not try was not worth trying.
Match9 Jan 2027
Three points for Al-Hilal, 2‑1 the final word against Al-Khaleej in a contest settled by the finer margins.
Player ratings11 Jan 2027
Malcom in the eights
A performance of 8.04 does not come along often, and when it does the rest of the team becomes scenery. He was magnificent.
Player ratings11 Jan 2027
Successful dribbles: 16. Every time he got the ball somebody had to make a decision, and every time the decision was wrong.
From our football correspondent
Upbeat
Market4 Jan 2027
Mohamed Kanno hands in a written request
“I have nothing bad to say about this place. I just need to be somewhere else.” It is in writing now, which changes what Al-Hilal can pretend not to have heard.
Squad4 Jan 2027
There are footballers who have a good season and footballers a season is remembered for, and the second kind get their names read out in a hall in the summer. Al-Hilal will be quietly delighted and privately nervous.
Squad4 Jan 2027
“I remember the meeting. I remember exactly what was promised in it.” Al-Hilal may remember it differently, which is precisely the problem.
Squad4 Jan 2027
He is 20, he is averaging 7.25, and older professionals have started passing to him in the difficult minutes. That last part is the real scouting report.
Squad4 Jan 2027
Sergej Milinković-Savić was at the centre of it, and by the time it was pulled apart there were three or four others involved. Training grounds are small places and long seasons make them smaller.
Player ratings4 Jan 2027
Successful dribbles: 21. There is a particular sort of despair on a full-back's face by the seventieth minute, and it was on display.
Market4 Jan 2027
Add another name to the list: Al-Faisaly have asked the question everybody in the game has been asking about Turki Al-Ghamil. The answer from Al-Hilal has not changed — yet.
Match2 Jan 2027
Al-Taawoun left with the points after a 1‑2 defeat that will take some explaining on the terraces.
Loan watch4 Jan 2027
“I am grateful for the games, but I did not become a footballer to be somebody else's spare part.” He wants to be at Al-Hilal, and 6 appearances in 19 say he has earned the hearing.
From our football correspondent
Upbeat
Player ratings28 Dec 2026
Successful dribbles: 37. There is a particular sort of despair on a full-back's face by the seventieth minute, and it was on display.
Match26 Dec 2026
Najran will want this one forgotten quickly: 3‑0, every duel lost, and a long ride home. Al-Hilal were ruthless in the way good sides are ruthless.
Player ratings28 Dec 2026
Headers, blocks, tackles, interceptions — 33 of them, and not one goal behind him. The sort of performance that never makes a highlight reel and wins football matches.
Squad28 Dec 2026
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Al-Hilal this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Squad28 Dec 2026
Malcom is in the form of his life
A season average of 7.50 with 8 goals behind it. Opponents have started planning around him, which is the sincerest compliment football pays.
Player ratings28 Dec 2026
A masterclass from Malcom
Marked 9.02 — the sort of number a correspondent writes down twice to be sure. Everything he tried came off, and what he did not try was not worth trying.
Player ratings28 Dec 2026
A performance of 8.99 does not come along often, and when it does the rest of the team becomes scenery. He was magnificent.
Boardroom28 Dec 2026
1484% of the income goes out in wages at Al-Hilal
Every club in football pays most of what it earns to its players. Paying nearly all of it is a different arrangement, and it has ended the same way every time somebody has tried it.
Loan watch28 Dec 2026
17 appearances away from home and 11 goals to show for them. Every one of them makes next summer's conversation a little more expensive.
From our football correspondent
Upbeat
Player ratings21 Dec 2026
Successful dribbles: 25. Every time he got the ball somebody had to make a decision, and every time the decision was wrong.
Squad21 Dec 2026
Sergej Milinković-Savić was at the centre of it, and by the time it was pulled apart there were three or four others involved. Training grounds are small places and long seasons make them smaller.
Match19 Dec 2026
It finished 2‑1, and it was Malcom’s afternoon: on the scoresheet when it mattered, and the reason the points belong to Al-Hilal.
Player ratings21 Dec 2026
One of those days for Malcom
There is a version of this player everybody suspected was in there, and on this evidence it is. 9.03, and no argument anywhere in the ground.
Player ratings21 Dec 2026
There is a version of this player everybody suspected was in there, and on this evidence it is. 8.58, and no argument anywhere in the ground.
Squad21 Dec 2026
6 goals and a season average of 7.44. Form like that gets noticed well beyond this town.
Player ratings21 Dec 2026
Marked 8.42 — the sort of number a correspondent writes down twice to be sure. Everything he tried came off, and what he did not try was not worth trying.
Squad21 Dec 2026
“I pick players who do the work. All of it.” No name was spoken; every camera still turned to Murad Al-Hawsawi, and the manager let it.
Market21 Dec 2026
Every press conference now starts and ends the same way: with Marcos Leonardo’s future. The manager has run out of new ways to say nothing.
From our football correspondent
Steady
Squad14 Dec 2026
There were 6 saves in it, and at least three that had no business being saves at all. The ten outfield players owe him a drink and they know it.
Squad14 Dec 2026
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Al-Hilal this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Match12 Dec 2026
Beaten 1‑3, and beaten fairly. The manager kept his words short afterwards, which was probably wise.
Player ratings14 Dec 2026
Successful dribbles: 20. Every time he got the ball somebody had to make a decision, and every time the decision was wrong.
Squad14 Dec 2026
“I pick players who do the work. All of it.” No name was spoken; every camera still turned to Yassine Bounou, and the manager let it.
Player ratings14 Dec 2026
Marked 8.29 — the sort of number a correspondent writes down twice to be sure. Everything he tried came off, and what he did not try was not worth trying.
Squad14 Dec 2026
5 goals and a season average of 7.37. Form like that gets noticed well beyond this town.
Loan watch14 Dec 2026
The goals keep arriving from Mohamed Meïté’s exile
10 goals in 13 games at Zob Ahan — numbers that travel home faster than he does. Somebody at Al-Hilal updates a spreadsheet every Monday, and it makes better reading each week.
Player ratings14 Dec 2026
Malcom leaves them behind him
Shots: 6. Goals: none. The chances were there and they were good ones, and they went into the stand, the goalkeeper's arms and the side netting in roughly that order.
From our football correspondent
Upbeat
Match5 Dec 2026
Al-Wehda will want this one forgotten quickly: 4‑1, every duel lost, and a long ride home. Al-Hilal were ruthless in the way good sides are ruthless.
Match7 Dec 2026
Al-Hilal are in among the leaders
Position 3 and 30 points on the board. Nobody at the ground will say the word out loud yet, and everybody at the ground is thinking it.
Squad7 Dec 2026
At 20, Saïmon Bouabré is already the best thing here
An average of 7.20 in a first team he is several years too young for. Al-Hilal have something, and by now the whole division has noticed.
Squad7 Dec 2026
Sergej Milinković-Savić was at the centre of it, and by the time it was pulled apart there were three or four others involved. Training grounds are small places and long seasons make them smaller.
Player ratings7 Dec 2026
Marked 9.55 — the sort of number a correspondent writes down twice to be sure. Everything he tried came off, and what he did not try was not worth trying.
Player ratings7 Dec 2026
A performance of 9.49 does not come along often, and when it does the rest of the team becomes scenery. He was magnificent.
Squad7 Dec 2026
6 goals and a season average of 7.51. Form like that gets noticed well beyond this town.
Player ratings7 Dec 2026
One of those days for Malcom
There is a version of this player everybody suspected was in there, and on this evidence it is. 8.89, and no argument anywhere in the ground.
Player ratings7 Dec 2026
Marked 8.74 — the sort of number a correspondent writes down twice to be sure. Everything he tried came off, and what he did not try was not worth trying.
From our football correspondent
Upbeat
Squad30 Nov 2026
“I was told what my role would be, and I signed on that basis. It has not happened.” A grievance with a date attached is the hardest kind to settle.
Squad30 Nov 2026
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Al-Hilal this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Match28 Nov 2026
Three points for Al-Hilal, 3‑2 the final word against Al-Qadisiyah in a contest settled by the finer margins.
Player ratings30 Nov 2026
A performance of 9.32 does not come along often, and when it does the rest of the team becomes scenery. He was magnificent.
Boardroom30 Nov 2026
Wages eat 1901% of everything Al-Hilal earn
There is a figure at which a wage bill stops being ambitious and becomes the reason nothing else is possible, and this club has reached it. Nothing is left over for a transfer, a stand or a rainy afternoon.
Player ratings30 Nov 2026
One of those days for Malcom
There is a version of this player everybody suspected was in there, and on this evidence it is. 8.43, and no argument anywhere in the ground.
Player ratings30 Nov 2026
There is a version of this player everybody suspected was in there, and on this evidence it is. 8.43, and no argument anywhere in the ground.
Player ratings30 Nov 2026
There is a version of this player everybody suspected was in there, and on this evidence it is. 8.24, and no argument anywhere in the ground.
Squad30 Nov 2026
Darwin Núñez is in the form of his life
A season average of 7.42 with 5 goals behind it. Opponents have started planning around him, which is the sincerest compliment football pays.
From our football correspondent
Steady
Player ratings2 Nov 2026
Successful dribbles: 25. Every time he got the ball somebody had to make a decision, and every time the decision was wrong.
Market2 Nov 2026
“I want to be playing for trophies while my legs still let me.” Nothing in that sentence is a transfer request, and nobody at Al-Hilal heard it as anything else.
Squad2 Nov 2026
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Al-Hilal this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Match31 Oct 2026
Three points for Al-Hilal, 2‑1 the final word against Al-Shabab in a contest settled by the finer margins.
Player ratings2 Nov 2026
A performance of 8.99 does not come along often, and when it does the rest of the team becomes scenery. He was magnificent.
Boardroom2 Nov 2026
Wages eat 1901% of everything Al-Hilal earn
There is a figure at which a wage bill stops being ambitious and becomes the reason nothing else is possible, and this club has reached it. Nothing is left over for a transfer, a stand or a rainy afternoon.
Loan watch2 Nov 2026
“I am grateful for the games, but I did not become a footballer to be somebody else's spare part.” He wants to be at Al-Hilal, and 4 appearances in 10 say he has earned the hearing.
Player ratings2 Nov 2026
A performance of 8.82 does not come along often, and when it does the rest of the team becomes scenery. He was magnificent.
Loan watch2 Nov 2026
9 appearances at Zob Ahan and the goals keep coming. Al-Hilal are watching this more closely than the borrowing club would like.
From our football correspondent
Crisis
Player ratings26 Oct 2026
Successful dribbles: 25. Every time he got the ball somebody had to make a decision, and every time the decision was wrong.
Squad26 Oct 2026
Sergej Milinković-Savić was at the centre of it, and by the time it was pulled apart there were three or four others involved. Training grounds are small places and long seasons make them smaller.
Squad26 Oct 2026
The manager makes an example of Théo Hernández
“If you cannot run for the shirt, somebody else will wear it.” No name was used and none was needed; every player in that room knew who it was for.
Match24 Oct 2026
0‑1 to Al-Ittihad, and no complaints worth printing. The performance asked for nothing more than it got.
Loan watch26 Oct 2026
8 appearances at Al-Fayha and the goals keep coming. Al-Hilal are watching this more closely than the borrowing club would like.
Loan watch26 Oct 2026
8 appearances at Zob Ahan and the goals keep coming. Al-Hilal are watching this more closely than the borrowing club would like.
Player ratings26 Oct 2026
Malcom keeps on missing
Shots: 8, not one of them in. A centre forward is paid for one thing, and on this evidence he has forgotten which thing it is.
Player ratings26 Oct 2026
Shots: 10. Goals: none. The chances were there and they were good ones, and they went into the stand, the goalkeeper's arms and the side netting in roughly that order.
Player ratings26 Oct 2026
Marked 5.40, and generously at that. Nothing came off, and by the end the crowd had stopped expecting it to.
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Player ratings12 Oct 2026
Successful dribbles: 38. There is a particular sort of despair on a full-back's face by the seventieth minute, and it was on display.
Squad12 Oct 2026
Ali Kolahkaj: that is not what I was promised
“Things were said to me before I signed. I am not going to repeat them, but I remember all of them.” Al-Hilal have not answered, which is an answer of sorts.
Player ratings12 Oct 2026
A defender's afternoon for Mohamed Kanno
Defensive actions: 25. He was first to everything and second to nothing, and the goalkeeper had an easy day because of it.
Squad12 Oct 2026
Sergej Milinković-Savić was at the centre of it, and by the time it was pulled apart there were three or four others involved. Training grounds are small places and long seasons make them smaller.
Player ratings12 Oct 2026
Defensive actions: 21, and a clean sheet at the end of it. A centre-half's best afternoons look like nothing happening, which is precisely the point.
Player ratings12 Oct 2026
A performance of 8.62 does not come along often, and when it does the rest of the team becomes scenery. He was magnificent.
Squad12 Oct 2026
“Nobody here is above being told.” It was not said with a name attached, but the dressing room can count, and so can everybody who was listening.
Market12 Oct 2026
The name of Théo Hernández keeps appearing in other people's back pages. Al-Hilal say nothing, which says plenty.
Match10 Oct 2026
Ninety minutes, two goalkeepers with clean gloves, and not one finish worth keeping. Al-Khaleej will be the happier side with the point.
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Player ratings5 Oct 2026
Successful dribbles: 25. There is a particular sort of despair on a full-back's face by the seventieth minute, and it was on display.
Squad5 Oct 2026
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Al-Hilal this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Player ratings5 Oct 2026
Headers, blocks, tackles, interceptions — 21 of them, and not one goal behind him. The sort of performance that never makes a highlight reel and wins football matches.
Squad5 Oct 2026
Rúben Neves gets it from the manager
“Nobody here is above being told.” It was not said with a name attached, but the dressing room can count, and so can everybody who was listening.
Boardroom5 Oct 2026
2773% of the income goes out in wages at Al-Hilal
Every club in football pays most of what it earns to its players. Paying nearly all of it is a different arrangement, and it has ended the same way every time somebody has tried it.
Player ratings5 Oct 2026
The one thing Karim Benzema could not do
Shots: 15, enough of them from close enough that a striker in form scores two. He is not a striker in form.
Squad5 Oct 2026
“Some decisions take a long time. This one took ten minutes, and most of that was finding a pen.” Abdullah Al-Zaid and Al-Hilal agree another 4 years.
Player ratings5 Oct 2026
Marked 7.79 on an afternoon he ran from the first whistle to the last. Whatever else went wrong, Al-Hilal had the best player on the pitch.
Squad5 Oct 2026
Malcom is in the form of his life
A season average of 7.25 with 4 goals behind it. Opponents have started planning around him, which is the sincerest compliment football pays.
From our football correspondent
Steady
Player ratings28 Sep 2026
Successful dribbles: 29. There is a particular sort of despair on a full-back's face by the seventieth minute, and it was on display.
Squad28 Sep 2026
Sergej Milinković-Savić was at the centre of it, and by the time it was pulled apart there were three or four others involved. Training grounds are small places and long seasons make them smaller.
Squad28 Sep 2026
The manager makes an example of Karim Benzema
“If you cannot run for the shirt, somebody else will wear it.” No name was used and none was needed; every player in that room knew who it was for.
Player ratings28 Sep 2026
A masterclass from Malcom
Marked 8.72 — the sort of number a correspondent writes down twice to be sure. Everything he tried came off, and what he did not try was not worth trying.
Player ratings28 Sep 2026
There is a version of this player everybody suspected was in there, and on this evidence it is. 8.09, and no argument anywhere in the ground.
Match26 Sep 2026
A 1‑1 draw with Najran leaves the dressing room somewhere between relief and regret.
Player ratings28 Sep 2026
Shots: 9. Goals: none. The chances were there and they were good ones, and they went into the stand, the goalkeeper's arms and the side netting in roughly that order.
Squad28 Sep 2026
“It had gone on long enough. I would rather have it out than leave it sitting there.” Ten minutes behind a closed door at Al-Hilal, and both men came out saying it was fine.
Loan watch28 Sep 2026
6 appearances at Zob Ahan and the goals keep coming. Al-Hilal are watching this more closely than the borrowing club would like.
From our football correspondent
Steady
Market7 Sep 2026
Al-Hilal say no — this time
The offer from Hajer for Saïmon Bouabré was heard out and sent back the same day. First bids are rarely meant to succeed; they are meant to find out how loudly the door closes.
Market7 Sep 2026
“This is not anger. I have thought about it for months, and nothing that has happened lately changed my mind.” The request is on a desk at Al-Hilal, and it is not being withdrawn.
Player ratings7 Sep 2026
Successful dribbles: 25. There is a particular sort of despair on a full-back's face by the seventieth minute, and it was on display.
Squad7 Sep 2026
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Al-Hilal this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Boardroom7 Sep 2026
Wages eat 3596% of everything Al-Hilal earn
There is a figure at which a wage bill stops being ambitious and becomes the reason nothing else is possible, and this club has reached it. Nothing is left over for a transfer, a stand or a rainy afternoon.
Market7 Sep 2026
The name of Suhayb Al-Zaid has come up in conversations Al-Hilal were not part of. Nothing formal, nothing signed — but nothing about it accidental either.
Squad7 Sep 2026
The manager makes an example of Sultan Mandash
“If you cannot run for the shirt, somebody else will wear it.” No name was used and none was needed; every player in that room knew who it was for.
Match5 Sep 2026
1‑1, and both dressing rooms will call it two points lost. A draw that asked plenty of questions and answered none of them.
Squad7 Sep 2026
The first one is the one every signing is asked about until it arrives. It has arrived, and he can stop being asked.
From our football correspondent
Upbeat
Market31 Aug 2026
The offer was not close and it was refused without much discussion. Whether the second one is refused as quickly is another matter.
Player ratings31 Aug 2026
Successful dribbles: 28. Every time he got the ball somebody had to make a decision, and every time the decision was wrong.
Squad31 Aug 2026
Some afternoons a goalkeeper is the team. 6 saves, several of them the sort nobody expects to see stopped, and a scoreline that flatters everybody in front of him.
Market31 Aug 2026
“I have given everything here and I need a new challenge.” The request is formal, and the relationship will never be quite the same again.
Squad31 Aug 2026
Sergej Milinković-Savić was at the centre of it, and by the time it was pulled apart there were three or four others involved. Training grounds are small places and long seasons make them smaller.
Market31 Aug 2026
Al-Nassr paid $600.0K and Al-Hilal took it, which is the whole story in one sentence. The longer version involves a wage budget and will be told all season.
Market31 Aug 2026
Al-Taawoun paid $400.0K and Al-Hilal took it, which is the whole story in one sentence. The longer version involves a wage budget and will be told all season.
Player ratings31 Aug 2026
A masterclass from Malcom
Marked 9.11 — the sort of number a correspondent writes down twice to be sure. Everything he tried came off, and what he did not try was not worth trying.
Player ratings31 Aug 2026
A performance of 8.19 does not come along often, and when it does the rest of the team becomes scenery. He was magnificent.
From our football correspondent
Triumph
Market24 Aug 2026
“I have given everything here and I need a new challenge.” The request is formal, and the relationship will never be quite the same again.
Market24 Aug 2026
Al-Hilal say no — this time
The offer from Dibba for Mathieu Patouillet was heard out and sent back the same day. First bids are rarely meant to succeed; they are meant to find out how loudly the door closes.
Squad24 Aug 2026
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Al-Hilal this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Player ratings24 Aug 2026
Marked 9.57 — the sort of number a correspondent writes down twice to be sure. Everything he tried came off, and what he did not try was not worth trying.
Player ratings24 Aug 2026
A masterclass from Malcom
Marked 9.34 — the sort of number a correspondent writes down twice to be sure. Everything he tried came off, and what he did not try was not worth trying.
Squad24 Aug 2026
“Nobody here is above being told.” It was not said with a name attached, but the dressing room can count, and so can everybody who was listening.
Match22 Aug 2026
Hajer made Al-Hilal work for it, but the scoreboard read 2‑1 at the end and the table does not ask how.
Market24 Aug 2026
Add another name to the list: Al-Ra'ed have asked the question everybody in the game has been asking about Abdullah Al-Zaid. The answer from Al-Hilal has not changed — yet.
Market24 Aug 2026
Al-Wehda are about to pick up the phone
A conversation is coming this week. Al-Hilal will put a number on him, and from there it stops being football and becomes arithmetic.
From our football correspondent
Triumph
Player ratings17 Aug 2026
Successful dribbles: 25. Every time he got the ball somebody had to make a decision, and every time the decision was wrong.
Market17 Aug 2026
Al-Hilal say no — this time
The offer from Al-Taawoun for Suhayb Al-Zaid was heard out and sent back the same day. First bids are rarely meant to succeed; they are meant to find out how loudly the door closes.
Market17 Aug 2026
Add another name to the list: Ismaily have asked the question everybody in the game has been asking about Pablo Marí. The answer from Al-Hilal has not changed — yet.
Squad17 Aug 2026
Sergej Milinković-Savić was at the centre of it, and by the time it was pulled apart there were three or four others involved. Training grounds are small places and long seasons make them smaller.
Player ratings17 Aug 2026
Marked 9.20 — the sort of number a correspondent writes down twice to be sure. Everything he tried came off, and what he did not try was not worth trying.
Squad17 Aug 2026
The manager makes an example of Yassine Bounou
“If you cannot run for the shirt, somebody else will wear it.” No name was used and none was needed; every player in that room knew who it was for.
Match15 Aug 2026
Three points for Al-Hilal, 2‑1 the final word against Al-Fateh in a contest settled by the finer margins.
Player ratings17 Aug 2026
One of those days for Malcom
There is a version of this player everybody suspected was in there, and on this evidence it is. 9.02, and no argument anywhere in the ground.
Market17 Aug 2026
He is 16, and the scouting reports agree on the only line that matters: the ceiling. Signings like this are lottery tickets written by professionals.
From our football correspondent
Steady
Market3 Aug 2026
The offer was not close and it was refused without much discussion. Whether the second one is refused as quickly is another matter.
Market3 Aug 2026
“I have ambitions, and I would like the club to share them.” Nobody has asked to leave and nobody has been shown the door — but a player chooses that sentence carefully, and a boardroom hears it exactly as it was meant.
Squad3 Aug 2026
“I never wanted to be anywhere else. There is unfinished business here.” Karim Benzema commits to Al-Hilal for another 2 years.
Squad3 Aug 2026
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Al-Hilal this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Market3 Aug 2026
The clock runs on Malcom's contract
49 months left and silence from upstairs — no offer, no talks, nothing for his people to answer. Clubs that let a calendar do their negotiating usually end up negotiating with the calendar.
Market3 Aug 2026
“We keep meeting, and we keep leaving the room with the same numbers we walked in with.” Another round of talks at Al-Hilal, another week without a signature from Pablo Marí.