Al Hilal superstar Bafetimbi Gomis confirms return date to Saudi Arabia

  • Facebook
  • Twitter
  • Mail
  • Pinterest
  • LinkedIn
  • Facebook
  • Twitter
  • WhatsApp
  • Pinterest
  • LinkedIn
  • Bafetimbi Gomis (EPA).

    Al Hilal fans have received a major boost after their iconic striker, Bafetimbi Gomis, confirmed he will “come back to Riyadh next week” as preparations begin for the 2019/20 Saudi Professional League’s resumption.

    Gomis, 34, returned to France in April once foreign stars were given special dispensation to exit the country. This followed March 14’s call to suspend all sporting activity, including the top flight, in a bid to curb coronavirus’ spread.

    The Saudi Arabian Football Federation overnight on Friday, however, announced a return date of August 4, following on from the Ministry of Sport’s call to allow training – under stringent health measures – from June 21. This will allow Hilal to defend a six-point lead at the top of the table, with eight matches remaining.

    “It is two months now [since departed Riyadh] because of quarantine and I’ve started to go out,” Gomis tweeted, while wearing a plastic sheet as a makeshift umbrella. “It is always rain, rain, rain, rain.

    “I didn’t have an umbrella today, so I have to find a solution.

    “I miss Riyadh, next week I will come back [to] Riyadh. You want, or you don’t want, I will come back.

    “Quarantine, corona[virus], I will come back to Riyadh next week.”

    Gomis has become a hit in the Kingdom, on and off the pitch, since August 2018’s €7 million move from Galatasaray. A tally of 63 goals in 81 appearances helped land the 2019 AFC Champions League, while the ex-Les Bleus hit man’s love of gahwa [Arabic coffee] is making him become a social media icon.

    He added: “I have to go back to Riyadh now. I miss Saudi Arabia, Al Hilal and the coffee.”

    Movement is also imminently expected about finalising a two-year contract extension agreed by Gomis and Hilal last month.

    Recommended