Al-Hilal head coach Jorge Jesus has taken a dig at the Saudi club's star player Neymar for prioritizing his private life over football.

Ex-FC Barcelona and Paris Saint-Germain forward Neymar joined the Saudis from PSG last summer.

The world's most expensive player also became that in the Saudi Pro League through a reported $98.5 million (€90 million) transfer.

He is being paid $164 million (€150m) a year at Al-Hilal, which is six times the amount he earned at PSG, according to BBC Sport. But not much has been seen of him in the Middle East after he picked up a season-ending injury while on international duty with Brazil in October.

The man who earned $80 million on-field in 2023 as stated by Forbes' list of the World's Highest-Paid Soccer Players isn't expected to step on the pitch again until August thanks to his knee knock, which means that he will not feature in the Copa America.

Jorge Jesus should have him back in his squad by the start of the European league season, and is under the impression that football takes a backseat to other interests in Neymar's life though he has no problems with his personality.

"Cristiano Ronaldo has more passion for football and that's why he puts it as a priority. Neymar has more passion for other things and puts those other things, which is his private life, first," Jesus said, in quotes carried by AS.

"But as a player he's fabulous. And as a man I was with him for a month and a half, he positively surprised me in everything."

Jesus doesn't believe he has been "lucky at all" thus far in Saudi Arabia.

"Why? Because I had never worked with Neymar. We worked for a month and a half, no more. It's something out of the ordinary, it's out of the ordinary.

"And so we lost quality, at least offensively. He's an easy kid to lead, he's a very sweet and understanding kid," Jesus concluded on the matter.

Without Neymar, Al-Hilal will take on the current team of former transfer target Lionel Messi on January 29 after he announced he will head to the Riyadh Season Cup as part of Inter Miami's travelling delegation.