Al Hilal forward Neymar is still recovering from a hamstring injury he picked up in November but is set to leave the club after his coach, Jorge Jesus, recently said that the 32-year-old “can no longer play at the level we are used to” and would not be registered to play in the Saudi Pro League for the second half of the season.
Neymar signed for Al Hilal from PSG for $98.6 million in 2023 and earns an annual salary of around $100m.
With no regular playing time guaranteed at Al Hilal, the most expensive footballer of all time (PSG signed him from Barcelona in 2017 for a world-record $262m fee) has a choice to make over his next destination. But where will he go? And who would sign him at this stage of his career?
Why is Neymar set to leave Saudi Arabia?
Al Hilal have decided not to register him for the second half of the season as his injuries — he is still not ready to play right now — have been a big problem, as well as the fact that he is taking one spot amongst the quota of foreign players who are allowed in the squad.
Al Hilal want Neymar to play at the Club World Cup in the summer. However, Neymar doesn’t want to stay until June without playing regularly and feels it’s the right time to move. Since his transfer over 18 months ago, he has managed just seven games in all competitions, with one goal.
Would Al Hilal agree to loan him?
Potentially, but right now sources say that Al Hilal are not ready to terminate his contract, which expires this summer, and pay him the €60m they owe him in one instalment.
Neymar wants to leave but wants to do so with his remaining wages. A transfer with a fee is unlikely when the 32-year-old has only five months left on his contract, so a loan (with his new team paying some of his salary) is the most probable option here.
Al Hilal could also keep him and play him only in the Asian Champions League before he leaves as a free agent.
Will his wages be an issue?
No, they shouldn’t be. No club is able to pay him as much as Al Hilal do right now. Neymar is fully aware of this and will not be too financially demanding for his next club. It won’t be about the money, which won’t be at the level of his Saudi contract or even his previous one in Paris. He understands the regulations in MLS with the designated players system and salary cap. And he knows the financial context and situation at Santos all too well.
So could he move back to Santos?
Santos CEO Pedro Martins appeared to rule out a loan and said recently: “There is nothing advanced, nothing closed. The club is monitoring Neymar’s situation to see how he will resolve his case with his current club. Neymar has a contract with the club. If they resolve it there, we will evaluate what the possibility of coming here could look like.”
But, according to ESPN sources, moving back home is the player’s priority. Santos is where it all started for him; his father, Neymar Sr., is very close to the Teixeira family who own the club.
Neymar believes it makes sense to go home now and dreams of finishing his career at Santos. He wants to leave an even bigger legacy there and take the team back to the top before he retires.
Could he move to MLS?
That’s the other serious option. ESPN broke the story on Thursday that three MLS franchises were keen to recruit him — one of them being the Chicago Fire — with a delegation travelling to Riyadh to meet him.
Playing in the U.S. is attractive for Neymar and his brand, and he knows the door to return to Santos will always be open. And it would stay open in two years’ time if he decided to go to MLS first. It also would be a huge coup for MLS to get the Brazilian player.
1:38
Could Neymar return to form in the MLS?
Stevie Nicol quickly disputes Julien Laurens’ idea that Neymar could return to form with a move to the MLS.
Are any other leagues interested?
At the moment, no other clubs in other leagues have really come forward for him. At his age, and considering he has hardly played at all in the past 18 months and doesn’t look as if he will play much in the next six months, it’s hard to see a top team in any of the Big Five European leagues moving for him, even as a free agent.
However, he is still football royalty and will want to join a top project if he decides not to go back to Santos.
Where do you think he will end up?
As sad as it looks, I think he will end up staying at Al Hilal until the summer with very limited time on the pitch because he will be able to play in only the Asian Champions League.
He will run down his contract in Saudi Arabia, get his money, get back to full fitness (eventually) and become a free agent before he chooses where to go next. Then he will be ready to go back home to Santos to finish his career.
Additional reporting from Nathalia Ferrão, Pedro Ivo Almeida and Victoria Leite.