Italian giants AS Roma are very close to signing Saudi international right-back Saud Abdulhamid from Al Hilal.
Roma is ready to finalize a deal with Al-Hilal for the 25-year-old defender, according to Italian journalist Gianluca Di Marzio.
The deal would be huge for Saudi football as it will make Abdelhamid the first-ever Saudi to play at the top level in Europe, with Salem Al-Dawsari having an unsuccessful loan spell with Villarreal in 2018.
Abdelhamid is also pushing for the move as he wants to make history and represent Roma next season despite Al-Hilal’s keen on keeping the player for the upcoming season.
However, Al-Hilal might be forced to allow Abdulhamid’s departure or they risk losing him on a free transfer next summer as his deal will expire by June 2025.
If the deal is successful, Abdulhamid will join a list of highly-rated Arabs to play for Roma, including Mohamed Salah, Medhi Benatia, Mido, and Houssem Aouar.
Abdulhamid had started his career at Ittihad Jeddah, before joining rivals Al-Hilal on a free transfer in January 2022, and since then he has made 114 appearances, scoring five goals and assisting 18 times.
With Saudi clubs having a maximum of eight foreign players in their squads, it would be very difficult for Al-Hilal to replace Abdulhamid with another Saudi player of the same quality, which is making the club doing its all to keep him for at least one further season.