Al Hilal's coach, Italian Simone Inzaghi, has decided to leave former Benfica player Darwin out of the list of registered players for the Saudi league. The final list for the remainder of the championship was submitted on Wednesday to the Professionalism and Players' Status Committee of the Saudi Football Federation, and the arrival of Benzema at the Saudi leader led to the Uruguayan international being crossed out. Thus, Darwin, who was signed in the last summer transfer window from Liverpool for 53 million euros, is limited to competing only in the Asian Champions League, along with Italian defender Pablo Marí, who finds himself in the same situation. The former Benfica player will, therefore, have limited playing time in the second half of the season, ahead of the World Cup. Conversely, Brazilian forward Marcos Leonardo, also a former Benfica player, who was once rumored to be leaving, has been included in the list of eight foreign players over 21 years old for national competitions. He is joined by compatriot Malcom, French players Karim Benzema and Theo Hernández, Moroccan Yassine Bounou, Senegalese Kalidou Koulibaly, Portuguese Rúben Neves, and Serbian Sergej Milinkovic-Savic. Al Hilal leads the Saudi league with 50 points, one ahead of Al Nassr, managed by Jorge Jesus and featuring Cristiano Ronaldo and João Félix.
Crossed Out Al Hilal remains central to this story.
Crossed Out Al Hilal remains central to this story.
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