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The Brazilian striker can cause regret to the “leader”.
The departure of Brazilian striker Marcos Leonardo from Al Hilal was not a surprise, as it was known for some time that it was inevitable, but it remains a decision that the club may regret sooner or later.
Marcos Leonardo officially left Al Hilal today, Friday, to join Dutch side Ajax Amsterdam in the summer transfer window on a five-year contract extension that ends in 2031.
Inzaghi chaos
It can be said that Marcos Leonardo is a victim of the chaos suffered by the Al Hilal club under the leadership of its Italian coach Simone Inzaghi, especially in the first line.
Before Inzaghi’s arrival, Marcos Leonardo was Al Hilal’s second striker in his first season behind Serbian Aleksandar Mitrovic, before he became the first striker despite the latter’s number of injuries.
With the arrival of the Italian coach, Al Hilal were looking for a new striker to lead the team, after the departure of Mitrovic and the omission of Nigerian Victor Osimene from Napoli, Al-Zaim signed Uruguayan striker Darwin Nunez from Liverpool.
It was planned that Leonardo would be registered as an underage striker, as he had been the previous season, but the club’s management were surprised that this could not be done because he was too old, and thus he would have reserved a place in the eight foreigners.
With Núñez’s poor performance, Al Hilal took advantage of Portuguese full-back Joao Cancelo’s injury to leave him out of the squad and replace him with Marcos Leonardo as the Uruguayan star’s replacement striker, before stripping him of a starting spot.
However, the chaos did not stop there. In the winter transfer period, “Al Hilal” signed a contract with two new forwards, one of them is the very old Frenchman Karim Benzema, and the other is very young, Mohamed Kader Meite from the Ivory Coast.
After the addition of Benzema and Mete, Marcos Leonardo lost his place again, as it was taken by the French striker and the Ivorian replaced him, the role of the Brazilian striker receded and Nunes also left the local list.
Before the end of the season, Al-Hilal had 4 foreign strikers on their roster whose fate was unknown, including the aged trio of Benzema, Nunes and Marcos Leonardo, so Al-Za’em agreed to the Brazilian striker’s departure.
Al Hilal is sacrificing its future
It can be said that Al Hilal chose to sacrifice the wrong striker, or their future, as Marcos Leonardo is the youngest of the three players, as he is only 23 years old.
Benzema, on the other hand, will turn 39 at the end of 2026, while Nunes is 27 years old.
It’s not just age, as Benzema has clearly been plagued by injuries since joining Al Hilal, to the point where he’s made just 13 appearances for them, while missing 5 games on 3 separate occasions due to injury.
It is true that he has scored 9 goals and provided 5 assists in those 13 matches, but the element of continuity for the French forward is not guaranteed given his age and a recent spate of injuries.
As for Nunes, it’s clear that he’s suffering at the goalscoring level as he’s managed just 9 goals in 24 games for Al Hilal, coming close to a goal in each of 3 games.
This affliction isn’t just evident at Al Hilal, as the Uruguayan striker has suffered a lot since last season with Liverpool, to the point where he has scored just 7 goals in 47 games, meaning he will struggle to rectify that in the new campaign.
With Benzema’s many injuries and Núñez’s drop in form, Marcos Leonardo should have stayed on to replace the French forward if he was injured, and even replace him after he left at the end of the season.
The problem of missed opportunities
Leonardo’s departure was also unsurprising given the public criticism he has faced since arriving at the Kingdom Arena in the summer of 2024, particularly for missing some easy opportunities.
This is not a matter of imagination. Leonardo actually misses a few easy chances, but he makes up for it by scoring a lot of important goals, as evidenced by his record in the major tournaments that The Leader participates in.
Last summer, the Brazilian striker scored four goals in the Club World Cup to become the tournament’s top scorer, level with Gonzalo Garcia, Angel Di Maria and Sergio Gerasi.
No one can forget his two goals against Manchester City, which saw Al Hilal reach the quarter-finals of the Club World Cup after a historic 4-3 win.
Some may say that Leonardo only scores in front of an empty net, which is not entirely true as the Brazilian has scored many difficult goals, but even that shows his excellent movement ability.
As for missing easy chances, that’s normal for many attackers. Even Portugal’s Cristiano Ronaldo, Al-Nasri’s captain, missed the most chances in the last Saudi Arabian League season, while Al-Qadisiya’s Mexican Julian Quiñones, despite being the top scorer, was third.
What separates Leonardo from Núñez is that while he misses a few easy chances, he scores other important goals and, in general, often scores more than he gives up.
Leonardo’s departure price is low
The biggest problem is that Al Hilal sacrificed his future for just €20 million, according to the Dutch club’s official website, which is a low price for the Brazilian striker’s potential.
In the summer of 2024, Al Hilal signed Marcos Leonardo as a promising Benfica striker for €40 million, although he scored just 8 goals in 24 games, at a rate of one goal every 3 games.
After two seasons, the 23-year-old left midway through his contract, despite scoring 48 goals in 82 games, an average of more than a goal every two games, not to mention the vast experience he gained from playing in continental and international tournaments.
Even compared to his peers at the Kingdom Arena, Leonardo left less than half the amount that Al Hilal signed Darwin Nunez for in the summer of 2025, which was more than €50 million, despite the clear difference in levels.
All this confirms that Al Hilal could make one of the biggest mistakes this summer, a mistake whose consequences will not only be felt next season, but even in the following seasons, when Leonardo’s star will appear and his price will multiply several times.
