Brazil international Neymar is allegedly in talks to return to Santos, more than a decade after leaving the club for Barcelona. Neymar is aiming to renounce his current contract with Saudi Pro League club Al Hilal and join Santos on a six-month deal, according to Globo.
Though Al Hilal appears eager to part with the star, preferring not to register him for the second half of the season, the parties must still reach a financial deal before he leaves. Neymar’s current contract would pay him $65 million in earnings before expiring in the summer, a figure the 32-year-old would still prefer to collect.
Santos is claimed to have already reached a deal with Neymar after he terminates his contract with the Saudi side, acting quickly after Al Hilal manager Jorge Jesus stated last week that Neymar will not be part of the club’s plans for the rest of the season. Within 24 hours, they produced a film narrated by an AI-generated Pele, the former Santos and Brazil player who died in 2022, to persuade Neymar and his representatives to return. The footage purportedly moved the player’s father and agent, Neymar Santos Sr., to tears.
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This brings Neymar’s stay in Saudi Arabia to a spectacular end, which began in the summer of 2023 when Al Hilal paid Paris Saint-Germain a transfer fee of up to $200 million. He was the star of a major campaign by Sadi clubs and the Public Investment Fund, the Gulf nation’s sovereign wealth fund, to sign European-based players and draw attention to their domestic league. Neymar’s time with Al Hilal, however, was marred by injuries and speculations that he wanted away, which heightened this winter amid interest from Santos and MLS.
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