Santos leaders seek to maintain caution, but are confident in the possibility of announcing this week the hiring of Neymar. The 32 -year -old has come to a verbal agreement to terminate with Al Hilal, from Saudi Arabia, and is expected at the club for which he was born in football.
The athlete already had a salary hit with the beach association, in agreement with duration until the middle of the season. However, the release of the Saudi team was missing. The termination of the Brazilian contract was scheduled for June, which agreed to give up part of the $ 65 million ($ 385 million) that had to receive.
Al Hilal, in this way, accepted the terms of the cancellation. With recurring physical problems, the attacker was no longer in the team’s plans. Portuguese coach Jorge Jesus mentioned the difficulty of shirt 10 to reach the level of preparation of his companions and did not enroll him in the Saudi Championship.
The transaction is now in the phase of bureaucratic procedures. Santos will protect and wait for the signatures, but already works in the details of Neymar’s arrival, awaited on the coast of São Paulo between Tuesday (28) and Wednesday (29). The idea is to present it in the classic against São Paulo, scheduled for Saturday (1st), in Vila Belmiro.
To play the hiring of the star, President Marcelo Teixeira negotiated with the alvinegros additive sponsors in the contracts. He argued that the exposure of brands will grow considerably, and the companies have come to pay more to collaborate with the possibility of having the media player displaying his logos.
The contract should initially have a very short duration, which gives the athlete options in the mid -year window, the main of European football. But Santos believes in the event that he will be able to keep him at least until mid-2026, when the World Cup will be played in the United States, Mexico and Canada.
The World Cup was precisely the main argument used by the São Paulo club leaders in the negotiation. Neymar played very little since his arrival at Al Hilal, a year and a half ago. There were only seven matches, with multiple injuries, the most serious of them the rupture of the anterior cruciate ligament and the left knee meniscus in October 2023, in a game of the Brazilian team.
He returned to play a year later, but managed to enter the field only twice, disturbed by muscle problem in the right thigh. Without convincing Jorge Jesus that he could be inscribed in the Saudi, he was only acting on the Champions League of Asia, which made the search for rhythm difficult.
Aware of the situation, Santos argued that a return to Brazilian football would give him the best conditions to recover his way and return to the Brazilian team. The coach of the national team, Dorival Júnior, has said he has it, but expects you to get better preparation before calling it.
A video sent to the player used a simulation of Pelé’s voice, developed from artificial intelligence, which listed the reasons why they make sense to return. Neymar liked it, and now his employees look for a home. According to Placar magazine, the player wants to live in Morro Santa Teresinha, known as mansions like the one in which Pelé lived.
Santos sports equipment supplier, Umbro is reinforcing its inventory, expecting a shirt sales explosion. A shirt that the Mogi das Cruzes Paulista dressed 225 times before a complicated transfer in 2013 to Barcelona-then defended Paris Saint-Germain and Al Hilal.
Neymar scored 136 goals for the black and white team and distributed 64 assists, numbers that he expects to expand soon. So far, six trophies have been raised: three from the Paulista Championship (2010, 2011 and 2012), one of the Brazilian Cup (2010), one of the Copa Libertadores (2011) and one from Recopa South American (2012).
