‘Official’ - Player sold by Newcastle United in 2018 seals record-breaking £50m move

Former Newcastle United striker Aleksandar Mitrovic has sealed a record-breaking move to Saudi Pro League side Al Hilal.

A number of high-profile names have made the switch to the Middle East this summer and Al Hilal, who are one of four Saudi teams owned by the Public Investment Fund, have benefitted significantly following the £86million arrival of Neymar earlier this week.

Not just Neymar, the Riyadh-based club have also recruited Ruben Neves from Wolverhampton Wanderers, Kalidou Koulibaly from Chelsea, Lazio’s Sergei Milinkovic-Savic and Zenit Saint Petersburg’s Malcom.

Fulham rejected a bid for Mitrovic last month which resulted in the striker refusing to train during his teammates’ trip to America for the Premier League Summer Series.

The 28-year-old was convinced to make a return and appeared as a 58th-minute substitute in the club’s opening day win at Everton. A week later, the Serbian completed his £50m switch to Al Hilal, which is a club record sale for the Cottagers.

“The Club can confirm that Aleksandar Mitrovic has this evening left to join Al Hilal in the Saudi Pro League for a Club record transfer fee,” a Fulham statement read. “The Club had reluctantly accepted a revised offer as the player had consistently made his desire to leave known.

“Mitrovic joined Fulham in January 2018, initially on a loan deal before signing permanently that summer. In his first season, he helped the Whites to a Championship Play-Off Final win, securing promotion to the Premier League, the first of his three promotions to the top division.

“During the Club’s 2021/22 Championship title-winning campaign, he scored 43 times to set the record for most goals scored in a 46-game English league season, and equal a Club record for most goals scored in one campaign. We wish Aleksandar all the best in this next step in his career.”

Mitrovic had a mixed three-year stay at Newcastle after joining from Belgian club Anderlecht in a £13million deal in 2015. He scored nine goals and provided four assists in 36 appearances during his first season on Tyneside but was unable to prevent United from suffering relegation into the Championship.

He remained part of Rafa Benitez’s squad that bounced back into the Premier League at the first attempt but never seemed to fully earn the trust of the Spaniard and moved to Fulham on loan in January 2018.

Twelve goals and one assist helped the Cottagers to promotion into the top tier and earned Mitrovic a £22m permanent move to West London during the following summer.