Al Hilal, an 'exiled' South Korean, two discards from the agreement with LaLiga and better salaries than in Spain: "5 million"

• Interview Ramón Díaz, coach of Al Hilal: "Be careful, let's not sign Messi..."

• Interview Savio, a life between Flamengo and Real Madrid, like Vinicius: "If haggling is a provocation, I don't understand football anymore"

• Future 1 of 25, the exceptional thing about succeeding as a youth player at Real Madrid: "You have to throw the damn door down"

• Tournament The 'fixes' and the chaos for an express Club World Cup: from the 'invitation' to the Saudi Al Hilal to the queues of 70,000 people on the internet

At the beginning of 2018,

, the

and the

the Arab country reached an agreement for nine Saudi footballers to land on loan in Spanish football.

The idea had two edges: "Improve the image of LaLiga in Saudi Arabia and boost the career of some of the Saudi soccer stars in Spain."

The result did not reach approval and both countries sought different plans, such as the current Spanish Super Cup.

and

(Leganés),

(Levante),

(Villarreal),

(Villarreal B),

(Valladolid),

(Numancia),

flew to Spain .

(Rayo) and

(Sporting de Gijón).

To know more

Club World Cup.

Ramón Díaz, coach of Al Hilal: "Be careful, we are not going to sign Messi..."

• Writing: ABRAHAM P. ROMERO (Special envoy) Rabat

Ramón Díaz, coach of Al Hilal: "Be careful, we are not going to sign Messi..."

Al-Dawsari, the Saudi idol

Most of the names have been lost in the Saudi league, but there is one that surely sounds familiar to you.

Do you remember

in the World Cup in Qatar?

Well, the author of the 2-1 is the same

who tried his luck in the old El Madrigal Stadium.

The midfielder will seek to repeat the surprise of the World Cup against the same team against which he played his

:

.

Now he is one of the stars of Al Hilal, finalist in the Club World Cup, but in

he played half an hour against the whites on

, with nothing at stake for both teams: 2-2 and a

for him .

In front,

, 'enemies' in Rabat.

Of those nine who lived through the experience, only he made it to Qatar.

Next to him at Al Hilal will be

, formerly of Sporting, who did not get the call from the coach for the World Cup but will fight for a place in

's eleven .

They are the two Spanish '

' students from Al Hilal.

And next to them, as head of the defense,

, a South Korean.

Hyun-soo Jang's lie

"What is a South Korean central defender doing as head of defense for a Saudi team?" they will think.

As it turns out, Jang is the sixth South Korean to make a career in Arabia.

A kind of tradition brought about by the growth of the Saudi league and the stagnation of East Asian soccer.

And, in the case of the now Al Hilal player: for a

.

All South Korean citizens must complete a

, and footballers are no less, as Tottenham striker

found out a couple of years ago.

Jang received a small exception for being part of the team that won gold at the

, but he was still required to undergo basic training (like Son's three weeks with the Marines in 2020).

To avoid this, he assured that he had completed

of a soccer team, something that he supposedly confirmed, but years later they investigated him and discovered that it was a lie.

Being such a sensitive issue in the country, the South Korean Federation

, and public opinion fell on him, so much so that he ended up leaving the league last year and, logically, it was not called up for the World Cup in Qatar.

In Al Hilal, yes, he is 'captain general'.

"They won't even win that in Europe"

In a team full of Saudi footballers, the 'exotic' note is provided by

, an Argentine former member of Atlético de Madrid and Villarreal;

, Malian attacker ex Porto;

, Nigerian striker ex-Manchester United;

or

, Peruvian midfielder from Benfica.

They are its stars, who do not reach the level of

but are part of the growth process that the Saudi league is undergoing.

"They charge between

, also the best Saudis. They would not win that in Europe, not even jokingly," admits a source close to the Arab group.

On the horizon, the dream of signing

,

,

,

... Whoever.

"Money is not a problem," they confess.

The mechanism is the same that Al-Nassr followed to sign Cristiano.

The Government pays and the player chooses.

There is little else to discuss.

"

," confirmed the Argentine

, the team's coach, in an interview with EL MUNDO.

Meanwhile, a final against Madrid.

According to the criteria of The Trust Project

Know more

• Cristiano Ronaldo

• Luka modric

• Saudi Arabia

• Sergio Ramos

• Leo Messi

• Atletico Madrid

• Spain Supercup

• Daniel Carvajal

• real Madrid