Ajax have completed the signing of Brazilian striker Marcos Leonardo from Saudi club Al Hilal, the two clubs confirming the deal on 17 July 2026. Ajax paid a fee just under €20m for the 23-year-old, who has signed a five-year contract running to 30 June 2031. The move ranks among the biggest outlays in Ajax's history, with the club's technical director Jordi Cruijff saying: "We have admired Marcos for quite some time and are therefore delighted that he has now signed for Ajax. Despite his young age, he already has a wealth of experience."
Leonardo's route to Amsterdam has taken in three countries in as many years. He came through at Santos in Brazil before making the move to Europe in early 2024 with Benfica. He barely had time to settle in Portugal before Al Hilal came calling later that same year, paying a hefty fee to take him to the Saudi Pro League. He arrives at Ajax with well over 250 senior appearances and more than 100 goals already on his record, despite still being only 23.
The move fills a hole up front that Ajax badly needed to plug. Brian Brobbey left Amsterdam for Sunderland this summer in a deal worth around £20m, and John Heitinga's side spent much of the following weeks casting around for a like-for-like replacement, holding talks over Inter Milan's Sebastiano Esposito and old boy Kasper Dolberg before turning to Leonardo. Cruijff's comments make clear what Ajax expect from him: goals, and plenty of them, from a forward who already knows what it takes to lead the line for a major club.
Al Hilal lose their leading marksman. Leonardo made 82 appearances for the Saudi champions and scored 48 goals, becoming the club's top scorer in the Roshn Saudi League this season and helping them win the King's Cup in 2025/26. Losing a striker in that sort of form, and at a club with the financial muscle of Al Hilal, says as much about Ajax's ambition and the size of the fee as it does about any dressing-room issue — this was a player Al Hilal did not want to sell.
His recent output backs up the price tag. Leonardo has been the standout forward in the Saudi top flight this season, racking up more than a dozen league goals in limited minutes and posting one of the higher average match ratings among strikers in the division. That sort of consistent scoring return, sustained over two full seasons in Saudi Arabia after his short spell at Benfica, is exactly what persuaded Ajax to move quickly and pay a fee close to €20m rather than wait around for a cheaper alternative.
At Ajax, Leonardo becomes the club's fifth-most expensive signing ever, behind Josip Sutalo, Sebastien Haller, Calvin Bassey and Steven Bergwijn, and steps straight into the No.9 role Brobbey has vacated. He is a physical, penalty-box finisher rather than a deep-lying creator, and Heitinga's side will need him to adapt quickly to Eredivisie defences after two years of Saudi football. Given his age, his goal record and the money Ajax have committed, he is expected to start as first-choice striker from the opening weeks of the new season.