According to the latest reports, Italian head coach Simone Inzaghi is strongly inclined to keep eight foreign players in the club's domestic squad during the winter transfer window, preferring to maintain the existing lineup and not re-register Portuguese right-back João Cancelo.
Although some within Al Hilal SFC suggested excluding Uruguayan striker Darwin Núñez from the squad and reactivating Cancelo, who was sidelined due to injury in September, sources revealed that Inzaghi insists on retaining the striker who joined from Liverpool this summer, firmly believing in his importance to the team's attack.
Cancelo suffered a knee injury in the first round of the AFC Champions League against Qatar's Al Duhail SC. Afterwards, Al Hilal's management removed him from the squad list and used the vacant quota to re-register young Brazilian striker Marcos Leonardo, who had previously been excluded.
Cancelo's recovery period lasted about two months, and he returned to the pitch in November. While waiting for the final decision on his re-registration eligibility, he has only participated in the AFC Champions League.
Since his comeback, the Portuguese player has made three appearances in the AFC Champions League, contributing one goal and two assists.
The Saudi Arabian Football Federation (SAFF) allows each domestic team to register a maximum of 10 foreign players, including at least two players born in 2004 or later.
Relevant regulations stipulate that each team can field a maximum of eight foreign players in the Saudi Pro League matchday squad, but all 10 foreign players are eligible to participate in the King's Cup.
A team can use up to 10 foreign players in international competitions, with no limit on the number of non-Saudi players. This means Cancelo is eligible to play in the AFC Champions League, where Al Hilal currently tops the West Asia Group with a perfect record.
Al Hilal currently has 12 foreign players, including three players born in 2004 or later: Brazilian Kaio César, Turkish Yusuf Akcicek and French Mathieu Patouillet.
In addition, there are nine players over the age limit, including Cancelo, Núñez, Leonardo, as well as Moroccan Yassine Bounou, Senegalese Kalidou Koulibaly, Portuguese Rúben Neves, Brazilian Malcom Filipe, French Theo Hernández and Serbian Sergej Milinković-Savić.
