Blitz Bureau
NEW DELHI: After 12-years, which saw Neymar Jr become one of the greatest footballers in the modern era, the Brazilian forward has rejoined his boyhood club Santos FC in hopes of rediscovering himself. The club, which earned promotion back to Brazil’s first division in 2024, took to social media to announce that ‘The Prince is back’. Although the official announcement was made on January 31, the 32-year-old had confirmed the decision to return via social media.
“I’ll sign the contract with Santos Futebol Club. I want to thank my fans from all over the world, wishing for this moment to come true for a long time.
“It’s been nearly 12 years since I left the most famous Vila in the world – and it seems like it was yesterday. My feelings for the club and fans have never changed. Now, I need to play (football) again and only a club like Santos can provide the love I need to prepare for the coming challenges of the next years,” said Neymar in the video.
Neymas’s outings for Santos are almost Mythic, he scored 136 goals and 64 assists in 225 matches for the club and led them to their first Copa Libertadores title in nearly 50 years in 2011. Videos of the young Brazilian gliding through defences saw him gain prominence before he signed for FC Barcelona in 2013 for a fee said to be near 55 million euros.
It was at the Catalan side Neymar joined up with Lionel Messi and Luis Suarez and to form one of the best attacking trios ‘MSN’. His time in Spain saw the Brazilian turn into a legend as he went on to win two LaLiga titles, three Copa del Rey trophies and the 2015 Champions League before leaving for PSG for a world record transfer fee, that stands to this date, of 222 million pounds.
Neymar joined Saudi Pro League club Al Hilal from Paris Saint germain in 2023 for a whopping fee of 90 million Euros but only managed to muster seven appearances for the club having been dealt with serious bad luck with respect to injuries. The club announced their decision to mutually part ways with Neymar on January 30.
“Al Hilal Club Company and Al Hilal’s first Brazilian football team player “Neymar Junior” agreed to terminate the contractual relationship that binds the player in the club to consensus, expressing their thanks and appreciation to “Neymar” for what he gave throughout his period of acting Al Hilal, wishing the player success in his sports career,” read the statement by his former club.
