The 32-year-old has cut short his stay in Saudi Arabia to secure an emotional reunion back at his boyhood club
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Neymar's career wasn't supposed to flitter and fade out at 32 years of age. In perhaps a more just world, he'd still be lighting up the Champions League, have many more major titles to his name for club and country, and would only be gradually entering his twilight years while still as an effective player at the top level.
For one reason or another – be that injuries, ambitions or simply luck – that's not what's happened. Instead, Neymar is heading back to Santos, the club where he announced his future legend, as a free agent. His contract with Saudi Pro League side Al-Hilal was this week terminated, ensuring his 17-month spell in Saudi Arabia goes down as one of the worst transfers of all time having made a meagre seven appearances.
A monumental pay cut has been agreed, such is Neymar's desire to head back to his homeland and be at peace again. The last year-and-a-half has been tormented by a complex knee injury and two unceremonious exits, first from Paris Saint-Germain and now Al-Hilal.
The complicated tale of Neymar's career has made him one of this generation's most divisive players; maybe now we can all lower our arms and begin to appreciate his greatness as appropriate.
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Santos quickly cottoned onto Neymar's brilliance, which was more than apparent after he was offered a trial for Real Madrid aged 14. Three years later, he had broken into the senior setup back home and broke double figures for goals in his first season, drawing the watchful eyes of Chelsea and West Ham.
Rejection from Brazil's World Cup 2010 squad seemed to serve as motivation for Neymar, who registered a staggering 42 goals in 60 games as Santos claimed Campeonato Paulista glory. The records and trophies kept on tumbling, with the teenage sensation leading the Peixe to their first Copa Libertadores title since the days of Pele in 1963.
That's when the rest of the world caught up with the Neymar hype. Continental glory was enough already to get eyes on him, but he still went one step further with one of the most outrageous winners of the FIFA Puskas Award. Receiving the ball wide left and with two defenders surrounding his immediate route back infield, he slithered between the pair and played a quick one-two upfield to relieve himself of immediate pressure, regaining possession more centrally and 30 yards from goal. One ball-roll and a trick of the eyes later and he had breached the penalty area, with a dink over the onrushing goalkeeper finishing off an outrageous passage.
Neymar was essential viewing, despite playing in a below second-rate league and away from club football's most dominant continent. It made him the last pioneer of a lost genre, the YouTube footballer. Highlight packages and compilations spread like wildfire in 360p or less. You wanted a glimpse of Neymar, you needed to see Brazil's next superstar.
After two more years with Santos, Neymar finalised a deal to join Barcelona, to rub shoulders with Lionel Messi. It was the link-up of dreams.
AdvertisementAFPBig Barcelona break & 'MSN'
Though Barcelona's 2013-14 season was rather unremarkable – their only silverware was the Supercopa de Espana, won against Atletico Madrid via a Neymar away goal – their new star signing enjoyed a fruitful first year in Europe which set him up for future success. This wasn't a flash-in-the-pan whizz-kid who was too slight to hack it in La Liga, rather a dazzling winger worth the price of admission. The seeds were sewn, and when Luis Suarez arrived for 2014-15 (after he completed his lengthy global ban for munching on Giorgio Chiellini's shoulder), their attacking triumvirate was complete.
Messi, Suarez and Neymar. 'MSN'. The front three who could do it all. If Barca raised their ticket prices to €300, you would hardly blame them. The vibes were immaculate and the football was, crucially, winning. A historic treble arrived in 2015, a domestic double the year after.
If you thought there was a limit on how many goals three forwards in the same team could score, think again – 58 for Messi, 39 for Neymar and 25 for Suarez in 2014-15, followed by 41, 31 and 59 respectively for 2015-16. You had to watch Barcelona.
Getty Images SportUnderrated by the masses
But behind the scenes, all was not well with Neymar. Ever since he broke through at Santos, he harboured ambitions of becoming the best player in the world. That wouldn't be possible if he wasn't even the best player for his own team.
Messi's shadow loomed over Neymar and Suarez, and only one of them seemed content on that continuing. Though the Brazilian has since claimed this was not why he wanted to leave Barca, it was widely reported during the summer of 2017 leading up to his exit. A lack of credit for helping them stage 'La Remontada', beating PSG 6-1 in the biggest Champions League comeback of all time, was also cited as a contributing factor.
Given Messi's longstanding reputation in Spain and across the world as well as Suarez's notoriety and fame from his days in the Premier League, Neymar was the relative afterthought, the 'N' only at the end of 'MSN'.
AFPWorld-record move
Barcelona didn't have to sell Neymar. Well, unless a club came and met his release clause, which stood at €222m, more than double the transfer record at the time. There was universal doubt that would happen.
Yet here came PSG, offering up that sum to his legal representatives to hand over to La Liga, officially triggering that release clause. Neymar was gone, PSG's most shattering acquisition since Zlatan Ibrahimovic five years prior.
Explaining Neymar's move to even a casual football fan without sounding deranged was tricky. Why would he leave one of Europe's best teams for one in the bracket below? Why did he swap the dominant La Liga for the unpopular Ligue 1? The easiest answers were solo glory and money, while the man himself later insisted he merely wanted to rub shoulders with PSG's extensive Brazilian cohort.
Neymar's first half to his 2017-18 debut season in Paris is perhaps the most understated by a legendary player, most likely because Ligue 1 was at the bottom of Europe's 'top five leagues' table by a considerable margin. In 30 games across all competitions, he contributed 28 goals and 16 assists, averaging an involvement every 62 minutes. If you wanted Messi numbers from Neymar, here they were.
However, his campaign was prematurely ended in early March by a metatarsal fracture. Without him, PSG's dreams of winning the Champions League were dashed by eventual three-peaters Real Madrid in the last 16. The world forgot Neymar's performances. It was a similar tale the year after when injury ruled him out of a shock exit to Manchester United, again in the first knockout rounds.
When PSG at last broke through their glass ceiling and reached their first-ever European Cup final in 2020 during the coronavirus lockdown, they froze in the spotlight. Bayern Munich ran out 1-0 victors behind closed doors in Lisbon, with Kingsley Coman – a product of the Parc des Princes academy – scoring the only goal. It felt like it was never going to happen for Neymar.