Let’s be real for a second. When Neymar Jr signed for Al Hilal in 2023, we all expected a spectacle. We thought we’d see the rainbow flicks, the samba dancing in Riyadh, and a league getting absolutely dismantled by one of the greatest talents of our generation.
Instead? We got seven games. Total.
It’s one of the most expensive "what-ifs" in the history of professional sports. To understand why the Neymar Jr and Al Hilal experiment basically imploded, you have to look past the flashy Instagram posts and dive into the actual numbers—and the brutal reality of an ACL tear that changed everything.
The $200 Million Goal: A Mathematical Nightmare
If you’re a fan of Al Hilal, the math here is enough to make you dizzy. The club paid a transfer fee of roughly $97.6 million to PSG just to get him through the door. Then, they handed him a salary that most reports pegged at $100 million per year.
Here is the kicker: He scored exactly one goal for the club.
That goal came in the AFC Champions League against Nassaji Mazandaran back in October 2023. If you do the raw division—transfer fee plus the salary paid before his contract was terminated in January 2025—each Neymar goal cost the Saudi giants well over $200 million.
Honestly, it's wild. You’ve got a club that’s used to winning everything, and they basically spent a quarter of a billion dollars for a handful of appearances. By the time they mutually agreed to part ways, the frustration from the management was palpable. Coach Jorge Jesus was blunt about it, noting that Neymar simply couldn't reach the physical level required anymore.
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Why Al Hilal Finally Moved On
Most people think it was just the injuries. It wasn't. It was a registration crisis.
In the Saudi Pro League, teams have a strict limit on foreign players. While Neymar was sidelined with his ACL and meniscus rupture (suffered while playing for Brazil, not even his club), Al Hilal went out and built a machine without him. They had:
- Bono in goal.
- Kalidou Koulibaly anchoring the defense.
- Aleksandar Mitrović scoring for fun.
- Joao Cancelo flying down the wings.
By late 2024, when Neymar was finally "ready" to return, there was no room for him on the roster. Literally. The club had already filled its eight foreign player slots. They would have had to cut a healthy, performing star like Malcom or Renan Lodi just to fit a guy who hadn't played in a year.
The decision-makers at Al Hilal looked at the squad that had just won the league and the King's Cup and realized they didn't need the headache. They settled on a mutual termination of his contract in January 2025, allowing Neymar to walk away and forfeit about $25 million to $30 million of his remaining salary.
The Triumphant (and Painful) Return to Santos
Fast forward to right now, January 2026. If you’ve been following the news this week, you know Neymar isn’t just "back"—he’s technically home.
After leaving Saudi Arabia, he did exactly what the romanticists wanted: he signed with Santos. His 2025 season back in Brazil was a rollercoaster of grit and medical charts. He played through a meniscus fraying in his left knee to help Santos avoid a historic relegation. He wasn't the lightning-fast kid from 2011, but he was effective.
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In the final weeks of 2025, he went on a tear, scoring five goals in four games. He even dropped a hat-trick against Juventude that basically saved the club's season.
But the physical toll is real. Just a few days ago, on January 7, 2026, he signed a contract extension to stay with Santos through the end of the year. He’s 33 now. He just had arthroscopic surgery in December to "clean up" that knee. The guy is fighting his own body to make it to the 2026 World Cup.
Neymar’s 2025 Stats at a Glance
| Metric | Performance |
|---|---|
| Matches Played | 28 (for Santos) |
| Goals Scored | 11 |
| Assists | 4 |
| Games Missed (Injury) | 17 |
It’s a different version of Neymar. He’s slower. He’s more of a playmaker now, a "number 10" in the traditional sense, relying on vision rather than pure pace.
What Most People Get Wrong About the "Saudi Failure"
Critics love to say Neymar went to Saudi Arabia to retire on a pile of cash. While the money was obviously insane—including perks like a private plane and $500,000 per social media post promoting the country—Neymar’s failure at Al Hilal wasn't about a lack of effort.
It was bad luck.
The ACL injury he sustained against Uruguay in October 2023 was catastrophic. For a player who relies on lateral movement and sudden bursts of speed, that’s the "career-killer." Al Hilal fans never got to see the real Neymar because, quite frankly, the real Neymar might have stayed in Paris or Barcelona.
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Even now, under Brazil’s new coach Carlo Ancelotti, the door isn't fully open. Ancelotti has been very clear: Neymar has to be at 100% to make the World Cup squad. He’s not getting a legacy invitation.
The Road to the 2026 World Cup
So, what’s the move for Neymar now? He’s currently in the middle of a one-month rehab cycle following his December surgery. He’s expected to miss the start of the Campeonato Paulista, but his eyes are on the March international window.
He recently posted a video of his friends trying out his knee rehab equipment—the same "eye-watering" treatments he undergoes daily. They were wincing in pain. It was a rare, raw look at what it actually takes for a 33-year-old with multiple knee surgeries to stay professional.
Actionable Insights for Following Neymar's Recovery:
- Watch the Minutes, Not the Highlights: If you want to know if he’s actually back, don’t look at the goals. Look at his "dribbles attempted" per 90 minutes. If that number stays low, he’s adapting to a permanent playmaker role.
- Monitor the March Call-ups: If Ancelotti leaves him out of the Brazil squad for the March friendlies, it’s a sign that the medical staff doesn't believe his knee can handle the intensity of the 2026 tournament.
- Follow Santos’ Schedule: His contract extension through 2026 means he’s prioritizing stability. He chose the "emotional refuge" of Vila Belmiro over the chaos of another big-money move to the MLS or a return to Europe.
The Al Hilal chapter is closed, and it’ll go down as one of the most expensive footnotes in football history. But for Neymar, the story isn't over. It's just moved back to the beach where it all started.
Check the Santos match fitness reports throughout February to see if his pace returns after the arthroscopic cleanup. This will be the clearest indicator of whether he leads Brazil in the summer or watches from the stands.