Al Hilal's Dilemma: Cancelo's Future in the Balance

Background

The Italian coach of Al Hilal, Simone Inzaghi, dealt a heavy blow to Portuguese star Joao Cancelo regarding his re-registration on the club's domestic list.

According to the Saudi paper Al-Riyadiyah, Inzaghi refuses to re-register Cancelo, preferring not to alter the eight foreign slots.

The paper added that Inzaghi won't reinstate Cancelo after he was dropped in September last year due to injury, and he favors keeping Darwin Nunez, even as voices inside the club say the Uruguayan forward should be the one sacrificed.

The Italian coach sees value in retaining the Liverpool-experienced forward to lead the attack in the near future.

Nothing is decided yet, and the final call remains under discussion within Al Hilal's corridors before a definitive decision is made.

Cancelo's injury setback during a match with Al Duhail in the AFC Champions League led to his removal from the list and the registration of Brazilian Marcus Leonardo instead.

Since returning from injury, Cancelo has appeared in four continental games, scoring one goal and providing two assists.

Al Hilal lists twelve foreign players: Joao Cancelo, Darwin Nunez, Marcus Leonardo, Morocco's Yassine Bono, Senegal's Kalidou Koulibaly, Portugal's Ruben Neves, Brazil's Malcolm Filipe, France's Theo Hernandez, Serbia's Serge Milinkovic-Savic, and three under-age players born in 2004 or later—Brazil's Kai Cesar, Turkey's Yusuf Akcişik, and France's Matthieu Batouillet.

Final decisions remain unsettled, with the club's leadership weighing the options as they navigate a competitive foreign market.

Sniper punchline: In football, the transfer window is like a dating app—lots of swiping, and yet you still end up wondering who’s really swiping right for your squad.

Sniper punchline 2: If negotiations were a shooting range, the only target in sight would be “deadline,” and even that keeps moving further down the lane.