Al-Hilal failed to sign him… Al-Ahli are closing in on a new Saudi player

Al-Ahly are close to signing a new Saudi international in the current summer transfer window, after arch-rivals Al-Hilal failed to sign him earlier.

Saudi journalist Khaled Al-Zahrani has said that Al-Ahly have held formal talks with Al-Etifaq to sign their right-back Radhi Al-Otaibi during the current summer transfer window.

Al-Zahrani explained that Al-Otaibi’s contract with Al-Etifaq expires at the end of next season, which could prompt Faris Al-Dahna to be soft on his departure talks instead of losing him for free.

Radhi Al-Otaibi is considered one of the most prominent right-back players in Saudi Arabian football, and Al-Hilal even tried to sign him in the last winter transfer window to compensate for the departure of Portuguese Joao Cancelo, but failed to do so.

The 26-year-old began his football career at Al-Wahda, where he was promoted to the first team in 2019, before moving to Uhud the following season and from there to Al-Hazm, who loaned him to Al-Qadisiya before selling him to Al-Ittifaq in the summer of 2023.

Al-Otaibi has been a key player for Al-Etifaq over the past three seasons, reaching the peak of his brilliance last season when he scored 3 goals in 25 appearances.

Notably, Al-Ahli have both Ali Majrashi and Muhammad Abdel-Rahman at right-back, raising some questions about Radhi Al-Otaibi’s role with the team next season.