Thiago Neves set to make switch to Al-Hilal

* update – see below – Hamburg’s Brazilian midfielder, Thiago Neves, is on the verge of joining Saudi Arabia’s Al-Hilal. But the mercurial player will first return to former club, Fluminense, for a five-month loan period.

The midfielder’s agent, Léo Rabello, has said that Neves is almost certain to rejoin the Laranjeiras outfit. But there is still an amount of resistance to the move by Hamburg who want the midfielder to move straight to Al-Hilal.

Neves signed for the Germans in August 2008 for around €9.2 million. Al-Hilal are expected to pay about €7.5 million for the 23-year-old.

*on Tuesday 27th, Hamburg announced the deal was dead and that the player would be staying at the club for the remaining four and a half years of his contract. Hamburg were not keen on the loan deal to Fluminense and the price Al-Hilal had offered was €2 million less than the Bundesliga club paid for him just a few months ago. However, Neves’ agent, Léo Rabello, said he was still hopeful that he could convince the Germans to change their minds. Neves has not settled in Germany and has played just nine times and has failed to score.

** on Saturday 31st January, Neves’ agent confirmed that the player had been sold to the Saudis and would be rejoining Flu until July