Saudi Pro League club Al Hilal and Brazilian superstar Neymar have announced a mutual contract termination which will allow the 32 year old to return to his home country.
Neymar is believed to be working on a deal with Brazilian soccer club Santos, who were recently promoted to the country’s top flight ahead of the upcoming season. The forward came up through the ranks with Santos in his youth, and appears to be set to put pen to paper on a 6 month contract with an option for an additional year as well.
After jumping ship from Paris Saint-Germain back in 2023 for a $97.6M sum, Neymar struggled to get on the field with Al Hilal due to a variety of injuries. First, he tore the ACL in his left knee while playing in an international match, causing him to miss significant time. Then, after returning in October of 2024, he aggravated a hamstring injury which kept him off the field once again.
When all was said and done, the former Barcelona stand out suited up for just 7 league and cup appearances with the Saudi club, netting 1 goal in the process. As a result, both sides felt it best to part ways and explore other opportunities.
“The club expresses its thanks and appreciation to Neymar for what he has provided at Al-Hilal, and wish the player success in his career,” Al Hilal said in a brief statement.
Because Neymar still had $65M remaining on his contract, reports indicate that he will need to forgo somewhere in the neighbourhood of $25-30M in salary to grant him his release.
Nevertheless, he now returns to his homeland where he’s one of the biggest stars on the planet to play for his boyhood team. As such, the Olympic gold medallist won’t be short of lucrative endorsement opportunities and other avenues to make up the lost wages off the field.
With the recent additions of soccer superstars such as Lionel Messi and Luis Suarez, several MLS clubs reportedly kicked the tires on Neymar’s availability as well. The Chicago Fire are believed to have explored a potential deal with the forward’s agents, with other MLS sides inquiring about the possibility of acquiring Chicago’s “discovery list” rights to Neymar.
Photo: Alex Fau. This file is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution 2.0 Generic license.