Darwin Núñez, Taremi and Partey: What the Saudi Transfer Market Did in August 2026
Between August 21 and 23, 2026, three familiar names from European football switched clubs in the Gulf: Darwin Núñez left Al-Hilal on loan, Thomas Partey signed with Al-Shabab, and Mehdi Taremi — despite what several headlines implied — did not join a Saudi club at all. He moved to the United Arab Emirates instead. Here’s what actually happened in each case.
Darwin Núñez: from Liverpool to an internal loan inside the Saudi league
In August 2025, Al-Hilal paid Liverpool an initial fee of €53 million for Darwin Núñez on a three-year contract. A year later, on August 21, 2026, Al-Hilal’s board — chaired by Prince Nawaf bin Saad — approved loaning the Uruguayan striker to Al-Diriyah, a club playing its first-ever season in Saudi Arabia’s top flight.
The loan runs until the end of the 2026/27 season and carries no purchase option: Al-Diriyah gets the player for one year, with no obligation or right to sign him permanently afterward. Who covers Núñez’s salary during the loan — reported at around €15 million a year — is still disputed among Saudi outlets: some reports say Al-Diriyah pays the full amount, others describe a split between the two clubs. Since the sources don’t agree, that detail remains unconfirmed until one of the clubs states the financial terms officially.
The destination stands out because Al-Diriyah isn’t just any newly-promoted side: the club is named after the city where the first Saudi state was founded in 1727, and it made its top-flight debut with a narrow loss to Al-Ahli. Loaning out a €53 million striker to a debutant is a bet on giving the player minutes and visibility — while quietly strengthening a promoted club without having to sell anyone.
Thomas Partey: from a released contract at Villarreal to Al-Shabab
Ghanaian midfielder Thomas Partey took a different route to Saudi Arabia. He left Arsenal in August 2025 after five seasons at the club and signed a one-year deal with Villarreal, with an option for a further season. Villarreal chose not to trigger that option, and Partey became a free agent at the end of June 2026.
On August 21, 2026, Al-Shabab announced his signing on a free transfer, since he arrived with no club. The deal runs for one year, with wages reported at around $4.5 million annually. It’s the first time in his professional career that Partey has played outside Europe.
Did Taremi join a Saudi club? No — he went to the UAE
Much of the confusion around this window traces back to an AFC (Asian Football Confederation) report that bundled Núñez’s loan to Al-Diriyah together with Mehdi Taremi’s move to a club called Al Wasl in the same article. The catch: there’s more than one “Al Wasl” in the region, and the one that signed the Iranian forward is based in Dubai, in the UAE Pro League — not Saudi Arabia.
Taremi, 34, was at Olympiacos and joined Al Wasl after the Emirati club triggered his release clause, set at €1.5 million. He signed through June 30, 2027, returning to Asian football after seven seasons in Europe, with spells at Rio Ave, Porto, Inter Milan and Olympiacos.
In short: anyone who saw Taremi’s name next to Núñez and Partey and assumed all three landed in the same country got it wrong. The first two changed clubs within Saudi Arabia; Taremi swapped Greece for the UAE.
The pattern behind Saudi Arabia’s moves
Comparing the three cases shows a shift from what the Saudi league mostly did until recently — importing stars straight from Europe at a premium, as Al-Hilal itself did with Núñez in 2025. Now, part of the movement is internal: Al-Hilal didn’t sell Núñez or bring in a European replacement, it simply relocated him to a league rival that needed a recognizable name for its first top-flight campaign. Al-Shabab, meanwhile, skipped a transfer fee altogether and picked up an international-caliber player who became available for free.
| Player | Left | Joined | Deal type | Duration |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Darwin Núñez | Al-Hilal (Saudi Arabia) | Al-Diriyah (Saudi Arabia) | Loan, no purchase option | Through end of 2026/27 |
| Thomas Partey | Villarreal (Spain) | Al-Shabab (Saudi Arabia) | Free transfer | 1 year |
| Mehdi Taremi | Olympiacos (Greece) | Al Wasl (United Arab Emirates) | Permanent transfer | Through June 2027 |
If you’re tracking a different market, see when Brazil’s 2026 transfer window closes and what happens after — the Gulf runs on its own registration calendar, so Saudi and UAE clubs keep making moves even after Europe’s major windows have shut.
Frequently asked questions
Does Darwin Núñez still belong to Al-Hilal? Yes. His contract with Al-Hilal runs through 2028; the loan to Al-Diriyah only transfers playing rights until the end of 2026/27, with no purchase option attached.
Does Taremi play in the same league as Núñez and Partey? No. Núñez and Partey play in the Saudi Pro League. Taremi plays in the UAE Pro League, for Al Wasl in Dubai.
How much did Al-Shabab pay for Partey? No transfer fee — he arrived as a free agent on a one-year contract, with wages reported at around $4.5 million a year.