Khaled Al-Issa, the head of the Saudi club Al Ahly, has confirmed that the team pursued transfers for Real Madrid winger Vinicius Junior and Napoli striker Victor Osimhen during the summer transfer window.
Al-Issa told Goal, as reported by Koora Rotana:
We had the desire to bring in a great winger, Vinicius, but during the negotiations something unexpected happened, the Saudi players went to professionalize according to the scholarship program. In this way, Al Braikan (winger) became a professional, so the priority became to sign a striker and we negotiated with Toney and Osimhen.
Earlier reports suggested that Al Ahly had offered Vinicius a contract worth €350 million. Osimhen, meanwhile, joined Turkish club Galatasaray on a loan deal, while Vinicius remains with Real Madrid.
According to The Athletic, Al Ahly had initially intended to pay Real Madrid €1 billion for Vinicius.