Wolves captain Ruben Neves on Friday became the latest major player to move to Saudi Arabia, joining Al-Hilal.

"From the 'Wolves' to the biggest team in Asia," Al-Hilal announced on social media after the 26-year-old Portuguese international signed a three-season deal in Paris.

The Premier League club announced that Neves will leave the Wolves after six seasons for "a club record fee", reported to be around 55 million euros.

🎬 From the “Wolves” to the biggest team in Asia 💙#AlHilal

pic.twitter.com/GRoy0f0STN

— AlHilal Saudi Club (@Alhilal_EN) June 23, 2023

Neves, who arrived at Wolves from Porto, had one year on his contract left. He will join Al-Ittihad's Karim Benzema and Al-Nassr's five-time Ballon d'Or winner Cristiano Ronaldo in the Saudi Pro League, in what is expected to be just the start of a series of moves for stars based in Europe.

Spanish club Barcelona had held a long-term interest in the former Porto midfielder.

The huge deal eases the Wolves' financial pressures. They have been under pressure to sell their players to avoid breaching Premier League spending rules after spending  £150 million on transfers over the past 12 months.

Neves has made 253 appearances for the Wolves, scoring 30 goals, since arriving in 2017. He helped them win promotion from the Championship a year later and then to two consecutive seventh-placed finishes in the Premier League.

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