Neymar set for Santos as Al Hilal contract is terminated

Brazil star Neymar has ended a hugely disappointing 18-month spell in Saudi Arabia after Al Hilal decided to cut their losses on the injury-plagued forward.

The 32-year-old joined the Saudi champions in a high-profile $94 million move from Paris Saint-Germain in August 2023 but has made just seven appearances for the club – three in the Saudi Pro League and four in the AFC Champions League.

On Monday night Al Hilal said they had “agreed to terminate the player's contract by mutual consent”, with Neymar expected to finalise a return to Santos where he began his career in his homeland.

“The club expresses its thanks and appreciation to Neymar for what he has provided throughout his career with Al Hilal, and wish the player success in his career,” said the club in a statement posted on social media.

The former Barcelona and PSG forward scored just one goal and created two more, a meagre return for a reported salary of $104 million per season.

Neymar was previously the subject of what is still the biggest transfer in football history when he joined PSG from Barcelona in 2017 for a fee of $229 million.

After his stint in French football he followed fellow superstars Cristiano Ronaldo and Karim Benzema to the kingdom at a time of rapid expansion in Saudi football.

He arrived carrying an injury from his PSG days but recovered to make his debut as he provided two assists in a 6-1 league win over Al Riyadh on September 15, 2023.

However, just two months after his arrival in Riyadh he ruptured the anterior cruciate ligament in his left knee while playing for Brazil in a World Cup qualifier and spent a year on the sidelines.

He returned for Hilal with two substitute appearances in late 2024 – including a cameo in a nine-goal thriller against UAE club Al Ain – but damaged his hamstring against Esteghlal in an Asian Champions League match on November 4 and has not played since.

Al Hilal coach Jorge Jesus said this month: "[Neymar] can no longer play at the level we are used to. Things have become difficult for him, unfortunately.”

Earlier in January, Neymar said he was aiming to play for his country in the 2026 World Cup in the US, Canada and Mexico.

“I know this will be my last World Cup, my last shot, my last chance and I will do everything I can to play in it,” he told CNN.

Neymar has been targeted by MLS teams, including the David Beckham-owned Inter Miami who considered reuniting him with his former Barca teammates Lionel Messi and Luis Suarez, and also the Chicago Fire.

However, a return to boyhood club Santos seems imminent. A move back to Brazil would likely be the last chance for a player who is his country's all-time leading scorer with 79 goals in 127 matches.

At the start of his career he was hailed as the new Pele. After scoring 107 goals in 177 appearances for Santos, he joined Barcelona in 2013, becoming the rising star of a team that swept to the Uefa Champions League title in 2015 by beating Juventus 3-1 in Berlin.

A year later he scored the winning penalty in a shoot-out as Brazil won gold at the 2016 Rio Olympics before his record-breaking switch to PSG a year later.

He won five Ligue 1 titles and alongside prolific French forward Kylian Mbappe led PSG to the final of the Uefa Champions League in 2020, but they lost to Bayern Munich in the final.

PSG reunited Neymar with Messi in the French capital, but along with Mbappe, the trio failed to gel and he was sold to Hilal in 2023.