Neymar’s injury-plagued 18-month tenure in Saudi Arabia came to an end on Monday when his club decided to mutually terminate the player’s contract.
A club statement shared on social media read, “The club wishes Neymar success in his career and expresses its thanks and appreciation for what he has provided throughout his career with Al-Hilal.”
Despite reportedly earning roughly $104 million annually, the 32-year-old forward, a former Barcelona and Paris Saint-Germain player, has only appeared in seven games since joining the team in August 2023.
Neymar joined Al-Hilal in August 2023 after being the subject of what remains the largest transfer in football history when he moved from Barcelona to Paris Saint-Germain in 2017 for a fee of 220 million euros ($230 million at the time).
He went to the lucrative Saudi league after fellow superstars Karim Benzema and Cristiano Ronaldo.
He played for Brazil in a World Cup qualifier in October 2023, but two months after arriving in Riyadh, he tore a cruciate ligament in his left knee, causing him to miss a year of action.
After making two fleeting outings for Al Hilal in October and November, he suffered a hamstring injury and hasn’t played since. He stated that the World Cup is his goal.
“He can no longer play at the level we are used to,” the club’s coach, Jorge Jesus, recently stated. Unfortunately, things have grown challenging for him.
Neymar stated earlier in January that he intended to play in the US, Canada, and Mexico in 2026.
“I will try my hardest to play in this World Cup because I know it will be my last chance, my last shot,” he told CNN.
MLS teams in the US have courted Neymar, but according to sources in Brazil, Santos, the team where Neymar established his name in his now-faded career, was in negotiations to have him come home.
