Ajax announce shock signing of striker Marcos Leonardo from Al Hilal

[p]Marcus Leonardo, 23, signs a five-year contract in Amsterdam. [a href="https://www.flashscore.ca/team/al-hilal/hxxcePl9/"]Al Hilal[/a] reportedly receive a base fee of €17.5 million for the Brazilian striker, while bonuses can raise the total fee to €19 million. Ajax revealed a transfer fee of "just under €20 million."[/p][p]The transfer fee makes [a href="https://www.flashscore.ca/player/marcos-leonardo/OW4BpjD0/"]Marcos Leonardo[/a] the fifth-most expensive signing in [a href="https://www.flashscore.ca/team/ajax/8UOvIwnb/"]Ajax[/a] history, trailing [a href="https://www.flashscore.ca/player/sutalo-josip/2aSozh6l/"]Josip Sutalo[/a], [a href="https://www.flashscore.ca/player/haller-sebastien/Ie17FSsK/"]Sebastien Haller[/a], [a href="https://www.flashscore.ca/player/bassey-calvin/faJVc0Mk/"]Calvin Bassey[/a], and Steven Bergwijn.[/p][embed guid="ea2b4ebe-4159-4b00-b225-66a76a1f76fc" url="https://x.com/AFCAjax/status/2078170365462032828?s=20" social-type="twitter" /][p]While Ajax have reportedly been following Marcos Leonardo since the 2019 U17 South American Championship, first reports of the Amsterdam club contacting the Brazilian and Al Hilal broke on Sunday morning, with a deal reportedly being struck in the early evening that same day.[/p][p]Technical director Jordi Cruyff commented on Marcos Leonardo's arrival on the club website, underlining the club's appreciation for the striker.[/p][p]"We’ve been impressed by Marcos for some time now and are therefore delighted that he has signed for us. Despite his young age, he already has a wealth of experience, having played more than 250 official matches as a professional and scored over 100 goals in the process. His main role here will be to score goals, and we have every confidence in him to do so."[/p][p]Marcos Leonardo started his career at [a href="https://www.flashscore.ca/team/santos/n3QdnjFB/"]Santos[/a], where he debuted at age-17 in 2019. The Brazilian striker moved to [a href="https://www.flashscore.ca/team/benfica/zBkyuyRI/"]Benfica[/a] for €22 million in January 2024, but moved to Al Hilal in Saudi Arabia for €40 million in September of the same year.[/p][p]In 82 appearances across all competitions, Marcos Leonardo scored 48 goals and assisted a further 4.[/p][h2][a href="https://www.flashscore.ca/news/transfer-news-live-tracker-updates/8QqUWm3n/"]Follow the latest transfer news LIVE on Flashscore[/a][/h2][image alt="Marcos Leonardo's career stats" id="e9ad07a4-5878-4763-b8f3-68f35b0da02e" credit-line="Flashscore" guid="830715ca-6086-451a-9b45-bc8c1aac95b5" original-width="2160" original-height="2700" /]