Al Hilal have confirmed the signing of Chelsea defender Kalidou Koulibaly.
The Senegalese defender becomes the second player in the Premier League transfer window to switch from London to Saudi Arabia after N’Golo Kante, who joined Al-Ittihad.
Koulibaly leaves Chelsea after just one year at Stamford Bridge, having joined from Serie A giants Napoli in a €40 million move last summer.
He made 32 appearances across all competitions for the Blues, finding the back of the net twice and providing one assist.
His debut season at Chelsea was otherwise unremarkable. In fairness, the Blues were not at their sparkling best throughout the campaign, having finished a season to forget in the bottom half of the table.
Koulibaly was brought in to be a leading figure in the dressing room with Chelsea building a squad with a strong youth contingent, but that did not pan out as expected.
The defender quickly found himself on the chopping block, with the Blues desperate to offload several players in a bid to avoid Financial Fair Play sanctions.
Koulibaly has signed a three-year contract with the Saudi-based powerhouse, who are believed to have forked out a reported £17m for his services.
The 32-year-old centre-back is the second high-profile player to exit the club this summer, but there is bound to be more as Chelsea plan to balance their sheets before the end of June.
Edouard Mendy and Hakim Ziyech are expected to follow Koulibaly to Saudi Arabia, which has become somewhat of an attractive prospect to Europe-based players.
Kai Havertz is also on the verge of ditching Chelsea for cross-city rivals Arsenal in a £67.5m move, while Mateo Kovacic is one step away from joining treble winners Manchester City.
Al-Hilal are the most decorated club in Saudi Arabia, and the Riyadh-based club are keen to further bolster their credential by signing more high-profile players from Europe.
They are also targeting Man City’s Bernardo Silva but face the tough task of convincing the Portuguese player to move to the Middle East.