January 31 – Following the termination of his contract with Saudi club Al Hilal, Brazil star Neymar will return to his first club Santos in what is being reported as a short-term deal.
Earlier this week, Neymar and Al Hilal mutually agreed to part company after the Brazilian spent much of the past two years sidelined with injuries. It means Neymar will not feature at this summer’s Club World Cup in the United States where the Riyadh club will play Spain’s Real Madrid, Mexico’s Pachuca and Austria’s Red Bull Salzburg in the group stages.
However, Neymar still harbours ambitions of playing at the highest level. His arrival will provide the seaside club with a much-needed boost. In 2023, Santos were relegated from the top flight for the first time in their history but won promotion back at the first time of asking last year.
However, the club has always been punching above its weight. They are not based in Sao Paulo or Rio de Janeiro where the traditional powerhouses of the Brazilian game draw on huge talent pools, large fan bases and greater commercial revenue to dominate.
Instead, Santos won global acclaim in the 60s as Pelé’s club. They were arguably the best club in the world for a decade. In the current century, Neymar added to Santos’s successes by steering the club to the Brazilian league title and the Copa Libertadores championship.
He departed Santos 12 years ago for FC Barcelona where he won two La Liga titles and the Champions League. In 2017, he moved to Paris Saint-Germain for a world-record transfer fee. At the Ligue 1 club, he scored 118 goals in 173 appearances but failed to deliver the Champions League.
Neymar is Brazil’s all-time leading scorer with 79 goals in 128 appearances, but he has not featured for the national team since he tore his ACL in October 2023 against Uruguay.
After the last set of World Cup qualifiers in November, Brazil manager Dorival Junior said: “I have never hidden my admiration for [Neymar]. We all know how capable he is. I would like him to return to the team at a time when the team can support him. I hope that happens again in March, or the following year. All we want is for him to be fully fit so that he can do his best.”
He added: “I have no doubt that with Neymar, the national team’s performance will be even better.”
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