Al Shabab sign master marksman Hamdallah

Al Shabab have signed prolific Roshn Saudi League striker Abderrazak Hamdallah.

The Moroccan, who sits second in the league’s all-time scoring list, was confirmed on Tuesday as the Riyadh club’s latest signing. He joins having spent the past two-and-a-half years at Al Ittihad.

Hamdallah, 33, has plied his trade in the Saudi Arabian top flight since signing for Al Nassr in 2018, making his mark on the competition immediately. In his debut campaign, he scored 34 goals in 27 league matches to fire the capital side to the title.

Hamdallah's tally that campaign also set a single-season record that stood until this May, when current Al Nassr captain Cristiano Ronaldo surpassed it by one. Although Hamdallah's latter time at the club was hampered by injury, he still scored 43 goals in 48 appearances. Hamdallah finished both the 2018-19 and 2019-20 campaign as the league's top scorer.

The forward then moved to Al Ittihad in December 2021, where his 21 goals in 26 matches proved integral to the Jeddah side’s RSL title win in 2022-23. He concluded that season with a third RSL golden boot also.

Hamdallah struck another 19 goals in last season's RSL - the joint-third best in the division - to lift his overall league haul for Al Ittihad to 52 goals in 63 matches. His brace against Al Fateh in March hoisted the frontman to second in the RSL’s all-time list, where he now trails Omar Al Somah by 15 goals.

Hamdallah will resume his quest to usurp the former Al Ahli hitman next month, when Al Shabab kick off their 2024-25 RSL season on August 24 at home to Al Ettifaq.