Neymar’s parent club Santos has reached out to him after he became one of soccer’s top ‘cheats’ for not playing despite being paid astronomical amounts of money.
Santos president Marcelo Teixeira said at a press conference on Wednesday that the club will wait for Neymar and his club, Al Hilal, to decide on his future. Neymar’s contract with Al Hilal runs until June next year.
Teixeira said: “We are clear and objective. “They know me, they know our club, he has a valid contract (with Al Hilal), 스포츠토토사이트 so we have to wait,” he said.
He added that Neymar would be welcome if he wanted to play against CRB next Sunday. Santos, who has already confirmed his return to Brazil’s top flight (Serie A), can clinch the Serie B title with a win over CRB on Sunday.
Neymar won three consecutive Campeonato Paulista (São Paulo state soccer league) titles with Santos, as well as the Copa Libertadores (South American Champions League) and was the top scorer, making him the best soccer star Santos has produced since Pele.
His next move was to Spanish giants FC Barcelona, where he became one of the biggest names in world soccer. Ahead of the 2017-18 season, he moved to Paris Saint-Martin for €222 million, breaking the record for the highest transfer fee at the time.
He then moved to the Saudi Arabian league for an astronomical fee and shocked the world.
According to data released by the BBC, Neymar’s transfer fee was £78 million. Al-Hilal guaranteed Neymar a salary of £2.5 million per week for two years, totaling £260 million ($4.4 billion). Therefore, the total amount of money Al-Hilal spent on Neymar, including the transfer fee and salary, was analyzed to be £300 million ($537.7 billion).
But then came the injury woes at Al Hilal, where he was the most expensive player to join. Neymar has played just six matches in an Al Hilal shirt. If you add up the minutes played in those games, that’s 428 minutes. He has one goal and three assists, and has yet to score a goal in the Saudi Arabian Professional League.
He came on as a substitute against Esteghlal (Iran) in the 2024-25 Asian Football Confederation (AFC) Champions League Elite (ACLE) League stage of the 2024-25 AFC Champions League at the Kingdom Arena in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, on May 5, but left the field after 29 minutes with leg pain and was later diagnosed with a knee injury that will require rehabilitation.
The rumors of a return to Santos came after Al Hilal reportedly considered terminating Neymar’s contract.
“There are no official negotiations with Neymar at the moment, but it’s every fan’s dream to see him return to our club,” said Santos president Marcio Calves. The relationship between Neymar and Santos is great. He started his career here and the possibility of his return depends on his desire and his performance at Al Hilal.”
