Is Neymar Close to Returning to His Boyhood Club?

Neymar's future is up in the air and a reunion with his boyhood club, Santos, could very well be in the cards.

Neymar won the Copa Libertadores with Santos in 2011 / IMAGO/Fotoarena

Neymar's future in the Saudi Pro League is up in the air and the former Barcelona and PSG man could be in line to return to the club where he broke out over a decade ago in Brazil: Santos.

According to a report from journalist, César Luis Merlo, an agreement has been reached between Santos and Neymar for him to return to the São Paulo, Brazil based club. The only thing missing for it to be official is for Al Hilal to terminate the contract of its star player, per Merlo.

Fabrizio Romano later reported that Neymar's agent said, “There are no talks ongoing for Neymar to leave Al Hilal. He’s under contract and very happy there.” Merlo later doubled down on his initial report, stating "Time will be in charge of putting things in its place."

🚨El agente de Neymar desmiente públicamente lo de Santos.
*️⃣Yo ratifico cada palabra que he publicado. Gracias a Dios, en Brasil se conoce cómo trabajo. Como ha pasado tantas veces, el tiempo será el encargado de poner las cosas en su lugar. https://t.co/wP7zuswEud

— César Luis Merlo (@CLMerlo) November 17, 2024

Over the weekend, Santos secured its promotion to the top flight of Brazilian soccer. In Dec. 2023, the club was relegated for the first time in history. Now, Santos wants to celebrate its return to prominence by acquiring the player that guided it to its last Copa Libertadores trophy in 2011.

However, in an interview with ESPN, Santos club president, Marcelo Teixeira, was cautious when speaking about Neymar's possible return.

"Nothing yet. We'll wait until the end of the season (Brazil's Serie B) and then we'll begin planning for 2025," Teixeira said.

Merlo reported that the club would want to officialize Neymar's move after season's end, giving time for the players contract situation with Al Hilal to be resolved.

Before moving to Barcelona, Neymar played 225 games for Santos in which he tallied 136 goals and 64 assists. During his 2011 season where he won the Libertadores and the Puskas Award, he became the last player outside of Europe to finish in the top 10 for the Ballon d'Or.

Neymar's chapter in the Saudi Pro League has been defined by injuries. An ACL tear kept him out of action for a year and he's only tallied one goal and three assists in seven appearances during his stint with Al Hilal.

Now, at 32-years-old, Neymar's return to his boyhood club, the place where we first got a glimpse of one of the greatest talents the sport's seen over the past 15 years, could be closer than ever.

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