Saud Abdulhamid makes Saudi football history as the first Saudi footballer to complete a permanent move to a club in one of Europe’s top leagues after the right-back joined Italian side Roma.
Abdulhamid travelled to Rome on Monday to undergo a medical and complete the formalities of his move to the Serie A club, who have paid a reported €2.5 million transfer fee which could rise to €3m in performance-based add-ons.
The Italian club posted a video of the player in his new Roma strip on Tuesday night alongside the caption “Welcome to Roma, Saud Abdulhamid!”
Abdulhamid came through the Al Ittihad youth academy and graduated to the senior squad in 2018, playing four seasons for the Jeddah club before joining Saudi Pro League rivals Al Hilal in 2022 on a free transfer.
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Abdulhamid cemented his place as Hilal’s first-choice right-back and was a regular starter in the club’s impressive 2023/24 campaign, which saw the Riyadh club go unbeaten to win the SPL title by 14 points while doing the double by clinching the King’s Cup. The 25-year-old started both Saudi Super Cup games as Hilal lifted their first trophy this season, but was omitted from the squad for the first league game of the campaign – a 3-0 win at Al Okhdood.
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Abdulhamid made his debut for Saudi Arabia in September 2019 and has made 36 appearances for the senior national team. He started all three group games at the 2022 World Cup in Qatar, including the famous 2-1 victory over eventual champions Argentina. The defender also represented Saudi Arabia at the Tokyo Olympics in 2021.
By moving to Roma, Abdulhamid follows in the footsteps of a select few compatriots to play club football in Europe. Saudi legend Sami Al Jaber was the first, making five appearances for Wolverhampton Wanderers during a loan spell in 2000 at a time when the club was in the second tier of English football.
Abdulhamid’s former Hilal teammate Salem Al Dawsari spent six months on loan at Villarreal in 2018 and made one substitute appearance for the Spanish club against Real Madrid.
Fahad Al Muwallad, now at Al Shabab, also had a six-month loan spell in Spain in 2018, at Levante, making two appearances from the bench. Fellow Saudi international Mukhtar Ali came through the Chelsea youth academy and joined Dutch side Vitesse on loan for two seasons.
Abdulhamid, however, is the first player to join a major European club in a permanent deal.
Several reports claim Hilal have made Manchester City full-back Joao Cancelo their priority target to replace Abdulhamid. The Portugal international, once considered among the best defenders in the Premier League has been frozen out by City manager Pep Guardiola and excluded from the first two squads of the new season.
