Brazilian football star Neymar announced that he would join Santos after ending his contract with the Saudi football club Al-Hilal. Neymar, who missed a lot of action due to injuries, said Santos is the only club that can provide “the love” he needs.
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Neymar should return to his childhood club Santos, he confirmed on social networks after having ended his contract with the Saudi club Al-Hilal. Neymar joined Al-Hilal for 90 million euros in 2023, but due to injury problems, the 32-year-old Brazilian star only played seven games for the Saudi club and only scored one goal .
“I will sign a contract with Santos Futebol Clube,” wrote Neymar on social networks in a post accompanied by images from his past with the team based in Sao Paulo. “My feelings for the club and the fans have never changed.”
Santos’ X account responded to Neymar’s post, saying, “Your house awaits you. Your people are waiting for you.
🤍🖤 🇧🇷 pic.twitter.com/iuzz2gge1J
– Neymar Jr (@Neymarjr) January 30, 2025
Neymar will be presented to fans during a ceremony at the Estadio Urbano Caldeira of the club, with concerts from several local music stars on Friday.
Neymar, the top scorer of all time in Brazil, joined Al Hilal after his colleagues superstars Cristiano Ronaldo and Karim Benzema in the Gulf. But two months after his arrival in Riyadh arrived, he broke a crossed ligament on the left knee while playing for Brazil in a qualifier of the World Cup in 2026, which kept him on the sidelines for a year.
He then underwent a series of hamstrings and knee injuries while trying to return to the action.
Club coach Jorge Jesus said recently: “He can no longer play at the level we are used to. Things have become difficult for him, unfortunately. “”
Neymar’s return to Brazil is probably the last chance of his failing career.
Neymar scored 79 goals in 128 games for his country.
Neymar had been courted by MLS teams in the United States, but chose to go home with the aim of winning the selection for the Brazil team for the 2026 World Cup in Mexico, the United States and Canada .
“Now I have to play again,” said Neymar. “And only a club like Santos can provide the love I need to prepare the future challenges of the coming years.”
He faces a huge challenge to Santos, who did not return to the Elite division in 2024 after a year on the second level.
Neymar will be faced with a busy calendar punctuated by long flights across Brazil, with the Sao Paulo state tournament, the Brazilian Cup and the national championship which begins at the end of March on the program.
The presence of such a big name will arouse enormous interest in fans of Santos, but the best days of Neymar are almost certainly behind him.
Heir to Pelé
At the start of his career, he was interpreted as heir to Pelé.
After scoring 136 goals in 225 appearances for Santos, he joined Barcelona in 2013, becoming the young star of a team who also presented Lionel Messi and Luis Suarez, who swept the title of the Champions League in 2015 by defeating the Juventus 3-1 in the final in the final in Berlin.
In 2014, his participation in the World Cup in Brazil was interrupted by an injury in the quarter-finals and Brazil crashed after a humiliating 7-1 defeat against Germany in the semi-finals.
Neymar won a redemption in 2016 when he marked the winning penalty during a shooting while Brazil won the golden football gold medal at the Rio Olympic Games.
In 2017, Paris Saint-Germain belonging to Qatar removed it from Barcelona with what is still world record transfer costs of 220 million euros ($ 230 million).
He won five Ligue 1 titles and him and the prolific French striker Kylian Mbappe led PSG to the Champions League final in the 2019-2020 season, but they lost against Bayern Munich.
PSG gathered Neymar with Messi in the French capital, but the trio with Mbappe failed to froze while personal rivalries were being kept on the way and that he was pushed to the exit and to Arabia Saudite, by the Parisian management in 2023.
With agency entries
