Rennes have confirmed the sale of striker Mohamed Meïté to Al Hilal, with the Saudi Pro League champions paying a fee reported at €30m plus around €3m in add-ons. The 18-year-old has signed a contract keeping him in Riyadh into 2029, and the move was completed at the start of February.
Al Hilal, coached by Simone Inzaghi, have been building a squad stacked with big-name signings and have increasingly targeted promising young European players alongside their established stars. Meïté was seen as exactly that kind of long-term bet: a physically imposing forward who came through Rennes' academy and had already caught the eye of several Premier League clubs, including Chelsea and Manchester United, before opting for the move to Saudi Arabia.
For Rennes, it's a significant loss from their academy production line. Meïté won the Coupe Gambardella with the club's youth side and signed his first professional contract in November 2024, going on to make his senior debut that same month. The club reportedly tried to keep hold of him with a new long-term contract offer, but he chose to join Al Hilal instead. The fee means his departure ranks among the biggest sales in Rennes' history, in the company of academy graduates such as Ousmane Dembélé and Eduardo Camavinga.
His form in his final season at Rennes was promising rather than prolific. Meïté made 29 Ligue 1 appearances, scoring three goals and setting up two more, largely as third-choice striker behind Estéban Lepaul and Breel Embolo. His highlights included an assist and a stoppage-time winner in a comeback against Lyon, plus a close-range volley in a 4-1 win over Strasbourg — enough to suggest a player who could contribute even without being first-choice.
At Al Hilal he's likely to face a similar situation early on: fighting for minutes in a squad packed with experienced forwards, rather than walking straight into the starting XI. His first appearances in Saudi Arabia have been limited, but the length of his contract points to a club planning for the years ahead rather than expecting instant returns. For Rennes, the sale banks a substantial fee for a player who had barely established himself in the first team, while Al Hilal add a young forward they clearly believe can develop into a regular starter.