Brazilian giants Palmeiras ruled out any possibility of signing Neymar after ruthlessly mocking the superstar’s injury struggles at Al-Hilal.
Former Seleção captain Neymar has been hampered by fitness issues since his high-profile move to the Saudi Pro League last summer.
The 32-year-old ruptured his ACL on international duty in October 2023 which left him on the sidelines for a year.
He finally returned to the pitch for the first time in 369 days at the end of last month in what was only his sixth appearance for Al Hilal.
Neymar managed just 13 minutes in his comeback, before missing the club’s next two matches as he’s currently not registered to play domestic league games.
The former Barcelona forward returned for Al Hilal’s 3-0 win over Esteghlal in the AFC Champions League last week but suffered a fresh hamstring complaint and withdrew after just 29 minutes.
His latest injury is expected to confine him to the treatment room for four to six weeks – after Al Hilal have gone on their winter hiatus.
The January transfer window will have opened by the time the Saudi football season resumes, which has sparked rumours that the league leaders will cut their losses on Neymar early.
His boyhood club Santos are said to be interested in bringing him back to Brazil, but their domestic rivals have made it very clear they will not be competing for his signature.
Speaking to UOL, as reported by GOAL, Palmeiras president Leila Pereira said: “Great player, but he’s going to Santos.
“I don’t know, you have to ask Santos, but not here, he wouldn’t come. I want to invest in someone who can come in immediately, who can start tomorrow if the coach decides.
“Palmeiras is not a medical department. I do not accept that a player signed by Palmeiras is not ready to play immediately.”
Neymar’s Saudi gametime
15th September 2023 – 26 minutes, two assists
18th September 2023 – 90 minutes
21st September 2023 – 90 minutes
29th September 2023 – 90 minutes, one assist
3rd October 2023 – 90 minutes, one goal
21st October 2024 – 13 minutes
4th November 2024 – 29 minutes
Neymar’s ACL injury was by far the most severe of his career, but his hamstring strain continues an overall theme of fitness issues.
The attacker’s health problems in Saudi have seen him confined to the treatment room for over 1000 days over the last decade.
Since suffering an ankle sprain at Barcelona in January 2014, Neymar has missed over 200 matches for club and country.
Neymar, who joined Al Hilal in 2023 from Paris Saint-Germain for a fee that could yet rise to £86million, remains among Saudi’s highest-paid stars.
He is also earning a cool £138m-per-year, the third highest salary behind Cristiano Ronaldo and Karim Benzema.
The 2015 Champions League winner has made just seven outings in Saudi Arabia though, completing 90 minutes only four times in 14 months.
In that time he’s scored one goal and bagged three assists across 428 minutes, with all of those assists coming in his opening three Saudi Pro League appearances.
Neymar’s Al Hilal contract is due to expire at the end of the campaign, with a mutual termination in January being mooted.
Even without his latest fitness issue, he wouldn’t be eligible to play domestic football for the club until January 2025 at the earliest.
Al Hilal have maxed out their seven-man limit of foreign players over the age of 21, which means one of Jorge Jesus’ key overseas imports would need to be sold to allow Neymar’s registration.
