Saudi club enters race as Everton push to sign Diogo Leite

Everton remain in contact with Diogo Leite ahead of his free transfer departure from Union Berlin this summer, but journalist Rudy Galetti has revealed that a Saudi PIF-owned club has now made a concrete move for the 27-year-old Portuguese centre-back, significantly increasing the competition for a player the Toffees have been monitoring closely for several weeks.

🚨🇸🇦 EXCL | A Saudi PIF-owned club has now made a concrete move for Diogo Leite, entering the race strongly and increasing competition around the Portuguese defender.

Real Sociedad, Everton, Eintracht Frankfurt and Beşiktaş remain among the teams already in contact. pic.twitter.com/1nJmM7n0lb

— Rudy Galetti (@RudyGaletti) May 29, 2026

Real Sociedad, Eintracht Frankfurt and Besiktas are also still in discussions with Leite’s camp, meaning Everton face a five-way battle for a defender they view as an ideal solution to their left-footed centre-back problem at zero transfer cost.

His contract at Union Berlin expires at the end of June, leaving the ball entirely in his court over which of the competing offers he chooses to accept.

Why Diogo Leite suits Everton’s defensive rebuild

Leite is a left-footed centre-back by profile, which addresses one of the most persistent structural imbalances in Everton’s defensive setup. He made 23 Bundesliga appearances this season, accumulating 1,970 minutes, 230 defensive contributions and winning 126 duels across the campaign, numbers that reflect a physically present, consistently active defender who rarely misses a game when available.

Four years at Union Berlin have given him significant Bundesliga and European experience, having come through Porto’s academy before moving to Germany. His composure in possession and ability to defend aggressively in tight spaces are the qualities Everton’s scouting team highlighted when they first identified him, and those attributes have not diminished despite Union Berlin’s difficult season.

The wage structure is the key practical consideration. Leite earns approximately £25,000 per week at Union Berlin. Everton are understood to be willing to offer around £50,000 per week, a doubling of his current salary that would position him alongside established squad members such as Mykolenko in the club’s pay structure. Going significantly beyond that figure would push him into the top earner bracket at the Hill Dickinson Stadium, which the club are unlikely to sanction for a player arriving from outside the top five leagues.

How the Saudi move changes the calculation for Everton

The Saudi PIF club’s concrete approach is the most disruptive development in this story. Saudi Arabian clubs can offer wages that no Premier League side operating within PSR constraints can realistically match, and a player whose current earnings are at the lower end of his market value would face a genuinely life-changing financial offer from that direction.

Everton’s counter-argument is footballing ambition and Premier League visibility. Leite is 27, in the prime years of his career, and heading into a World Cup year where regular top-flight football and a high-profile platform matter enormously. A move to Saudi Arabia at this stage, however financially attractive, carries the risk of reducing his international relevance at precisely the wrong moment.

Moyes and the recruitment team will need to move quickly. The concrete Saudi approach signals that the leisurely phase of this transfer story is over. Everton must escalate their contact into a formal offer that gives Leite a clear and compelling reason to choose Merseyside over the alternatives now queuing up for his signature.