Neymar returned to Santos on January 31, at a big party in Vila Belmiro. He won Pelé’s shirt 10, sought to show excitement, promised “a lot of boldness” and signed a five -month contract that assures him at least $ 105 million.
The commitment will expire in 40 days on June 30. And so far, the striker has played the total of a full match.
There were nine appearances, seven as a starter, with three goals scored. According to the site specializing in Ogol Statistics, the Mogi das Cruzes Paulista has been with 587 minutes since the premiere on February 5 on his 33 -year anniversary – the account discards additions. The period was filled with muscle injuries, the latest in the left thigh semi -meen muscle.
Type problems are, to some extent, expected after a serious injury – as the previous cruciate ligament and left knee meniscus that pushed the a year away from October 2023 to October 2024. But Neymar does not appear to make a lot of effort to demonstrate that he is struggling to recover the old form.
On March 4, dawn, in a cabin of Marquês de Sapucaí, enjoyed the parades of the samba schools of Rio de Janeiro. Five days later, unable to enter the field at the Itaquera stadium, he saw from the reserve bank Santos will be eliminated from the Paulista Championship by Arquirrival Corinthians.
The same Corinthians, in the same stadium, was the opponent last Sunday (18). Defeated, Alvinegro Praiano finished the ninth round of the Brazilian Championship in 19th and penultimate place, with five points in nine games, an 18.5%use.
“Arerê, Santos will play Serie B,” sang Corinthians fans in the East Zone of São Paulo. On the same day, in Water Branca, in the West Zone, where he displayed his new hairstyle and participated in the final of the media Kings League, an event that mixes football of seven and entertainment, Neymar heard the same rhyme.
Criticized, he responded on social networks, as he likes to do. He published one of his photos at Kings League, laughing, with the phrase: “Personality that bothers you, the presence that is noted, happiness that was exuded.”
In another championship, the Brazilian Cup, Santos will face this Thursday (22) the CRB, in a confrontation that is worth a place in the round of 16. The first leg in Santos, thanks to a penalty advocated in the additions by goalkeeper Alvinegro Brazão, ended in a 1-1 draw.
Neymar, after more than a month, is related. He boarded Maceió, with a special scheme. The delegation will not pass through the airport lobby, and local employees received instructions not to ask for photos or autographs.
The expectation is that shirt 10 will enter the field at some point in the second half. It will be your tenth departure since the return to Brazil, the ninth incomplete.
It was not the scenario painted on January 31 to the Santos fans. And it was also not what was expected by the one who saw the player’s return an effort to rediscover football on the way to the 2026 World Cup, with the Brazilian team.
He was summoned to the matches against Colombia and Argentina in March by the World Cup qualifiers. But after the carnival sequence in Sapucaí/embezzlement in the semifinals of Paulista, it was cut by coach Dorival Júnior – made at the end of the 4-1 defeat to Argentina.
Neymar is in Brazil’s pre-rista for the games against Ecuador and Paraguay on June 6 and 10, also for the qualifiers. Italian acclaimed Carlo Ancelotti, recently hired for Dorival’s place, will disclose the final relationship next Monday (26).
Ancelotti even talked to the striker after having topped the invitation of the CBF (Brazilian Football Confederation). Apparently, in the chat, it was established that the athlete will not compete in these matches, after all he announced this week his presence at an auction at Pacaembu stadium the same night as the national team will face Paraguay in Itaquera.
“Dear supporters and sponsors, we are very happy to announce the fifth edition of the auction in celebration of the ten years of the Neymar Jr. Project Institute, which will take place on June 10, 2025. I hope you in the paid Hall market. It will be a very special event, a wonderful night,” he said in a video published on social networks.
Before the auction, Santos has four matches on their agenda. Then, on the 12th, he will face Fortaleza, for the Brazilian Championship. Then the national football elite calendar will be interrupted for the Club World Cup. This means that Neymar will have participated at most until the end of his contract, 14 games.
The player costs $ 21 million per month to Santos. There are R $ 4.14 million in a portfolio and the remaining participation in sponsorship contracts, which, during the agreement, should reach at least $ 15 million (about R $ 85 million). Thus, there is a total of R $ 105 million in the five months of commitment-which, it seems, will be renewed.
The leaders of the beach club refute the calculations that point the price of each goal scored by shirt 10 – three so far, all in Paulista, with three assists. They argue that it brings image return and sponsorship. But the disclosure of the details of the contract, initially published in a report by UOL, expanded the pressure for sports results.
