As soon as heralded as one of many biggest soccer gamers on the earth, Brazil’s Neymar has left the Saudi Arabian league after a 17-month stint crammed with accidents and minimal play.

Three issues to know

1. Al-Hilal, the Saudi Arabian membership that signed Neymar again in 2023, introduced in a press release Monday that it had reached a mutual settlement with him to terminate his contract earlier than its expiration date later this yr.

2. Neymar struggled by means of bodily accidents for many of his time within the Center East, with a earlier ACL rupture that saved him sidelined for a yr.

3. The 32-year-old participant made the transfer for a reported $100 million yearly wage, regardless of solely taking part in seven video games and scoring one purpose throughout his whole tenure there.

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So what’s subsequent for Neymar?

The membership president of Santos, the workforce the place Neymar first made his debut as knowledgeable athlete again in 2009, introduced the famous person’s homecoming early Tuesday on social media.

“It’s time to come again,” wrote Marcelo Teixeira, confirming what Brazilian soccer followers and media had been suspecting since he introduced his departure from Al-Hilal.

Neymar himself posted a message of gratitude to his social media on Tuesday, thanking his former workforce and followers for his or her help.

“I gave all the things to play and I want we loved higher occasions on the pitch collectively ..” he wrote.

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