Raphinha And Vinicius Junior Hope Neymar Return To Santos

JAKARTA - Raphinha and Vinicius Junior are delighted by the prospect of Neymar's return to Brazil. The Al Hilal star is eyeing a possible move to his former club, Santos, in January 2025.

Neymar wants to terminate his contract with the Saudi Arabian Pro League club to return to Santos.

The Brazil forward, who is also the target of several Major League Soccer (MLS) teams, will become a free agent in July 2025.

Neymar has also been dumped by Al Hilal for not being registered by the team for the second half of the season. He is allowed the club to negotiate freely with anyone in January 2025.

When asked about Neymar's future, fellow Brazil international and Barcelona star, Raphinha, said he supported his colleague back to Santos.

"I think his return is to compete at a high level. In my opinion, (the league) of Brazil is at a high level, it would be good not only for him, but also for everyone," Raphinha told TNT Sports Brazil, as reported in Globoesporte.

Vinicius also agrees with Raphinha. He believes Santos will be the right place for Neymar to find his best form again.

"For Brazil, it is important to have a player like Ney (Neymar), especially at Santos, who is his home, where he played so many matches," said the Real Madrid striker on Thursday, January 23, 2025.

Neymar, 32, has not played since suffering a hamstring injury in November 2024 in his second match after being sidelined for a year due to ACL's tearing and steaming in his left knee.

He is not yet guaranteed regular playing time and contract extension. Al Hilal coach Jorge Jesus recently said that Neymar could no longer play at the usual level.

"I think a player like him will never be silent, inactive. What happened at his club might prevent him from getting back to his best physical performance," said Raphinha.

The former Barcelona forward has scored one goal in seven appearances since he joined Paris Saint-Germain with a league transfer record of 90 million euros in August 2023.

Neymar, who is Brazil's all-time leading goalscorer with 79 goals, was not registered to play in the Saudi Arabian Pro League in the first half of the season but has played in the Asian Elite Champions League.

"Ney (Neymar) is our idol. We hope he can return to play as soon as possible. Hopefully he can calmly take the best decision for him and his family," said Vinicius.