On August 15, Al-Hilal announced the signing of Neymar from Paris Saint-Germain for €90 million (£77.2m/$98.3m). It was the most expensive transfer in the history of the Saudi Pro League (SPL), the biggest deal ever done outside of Europe too, and the Brazilian was given a predictably rapturous welcome when he arrived in Riyadh.
Al-Hilal had already made several other notable acquisitions during the off-season, including Kalidou Koulibaly, Ruben Neves, Malcom and, perhaps most impressively of all, Sergej Milinkovic-Savic - but the Neymar transfer obviously trumped them all.
This was the statement signing the club had been desperate to make; a coup comparable to Al-Nassr landing Cristiano Ronaldo in January or Al-Ittihad convincing Karim Benzema to leave Real Madrid at the end of last season.
In terms of visibility and profile, bringing in Brazil's all-time leading goalscorer was priceless. But, from a sporting perspective, Al-Hilal coach Jorge Jesus didn't necessarily need Neymar. In reality, what he really needed was a No.9 - and just four days after Neymar joined, he got one.