Kader Meïté has completed a permanent move from Stade Rennais to Al-Hilal in a deal worth €30.00m, sealing a major step in the 18-year-old centre-forward’s rapid rise and taking him from Ligue 1 to the Saudi Pro League. The France and Cote d’Ivoire-eligible striker has signed a contract with the Riyadh giants running from 2026-02-01 to an undisclosed end date, ending his spell in French football and confirming his status as one of the most significant young exports to Saudi Arabia.
The transfer, finalised with a confirmed fee far above his current market valuation of €10.00m, underlines how highly Al-Hilal rate the teenager. Meïté joins the Saudi Pro League champions as a fully registered Al-Hilal player, no longer on the books of Stade Rennais and therefore not a free agent. The move also makes him one of the most expensive outgoing sales in recent Rennes history in his age category, emphasising both his potential and the financial pull of Saudi clubs.
Born in Créteil and standing at 1.93 m, Meïté leaves France having been developed in the Stade Rennais system and listed positionally as an attack-focused centre-forward. At Rennes, his emergence was reflected in a steep rise in market value over 2025, progressing from €600,000 to €5.00m, then €8.00m, and finally €10.00m by the end of that year. Those successive revaluations chart the trajectory that convinced Al-Hilal to invest three times his latest assessed worth.
The switch also marks a clear change of footballing environment. Meïté moves from Ligue 1, where he was registered with Stade Rennais, to the Saudi Pro League, where Al-Hilal compete at the top end of the table and in continental competitions. Having previously been tied to French domestic football, the forward is now set to play his club football abroad in Saudi Arabia rather than in his home country, with the potential to represent either France or Cote d’Ivoire at international level in the future.
Meïté’s profile at Al-Hilal will be that of a powerful right-footed centre-forward, wearing shirt number 75, in a squad that regularly fights for league titles and continental honours. For a player with dual nationality, the move may also draw fresh attention from both French and Ivorian football circles, who will track his development in a new tactical and cultural context.
The confirmed transfer closes his chapter at Stade Rennais, where he last held a contract before the move to Saudi Arabia, and opens a new stage in his career at a club with significant ambitions. How quickly he adapts to the Saudi Pro League, and how effectively he turns his physical presence and rising value into consistent performances for Al-Hilal, will go a long way to determining whether this major step abroad becomes the foundation of a long-term elite career for one of football’s most intriguing young centre-forwards.
