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Expert insight from Brazil
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Neymar’s career has unquestionably been on a downward trajectory since his decision to leave European football for the financial overtures of Saudi Arabia, but it reached a new low on Sunday. The 33-year-old completed an emotional return to Santos in January in a bid to revive his fortunes and enhance his dreams of playing for Brazil at the World Cup but there has been no fairytale.
In his first start since September, Neymar was furious as he was substituted on 85 minutes with Santos losing 3-0 to Flamengo at the weekend. The Brazilian had another poor game and bizarrely dropped into centre-back at one point to start an attack from the goalkeeper. Neymar’s frustrations were clear but Santos noticeably scored twice after his withdrawal and he subsequently accused the referee of ‘threatening him’. Once arguably the best player in the world, Neymar no longer possesses the brilliance of yesteryear and his return to Santos is edging closer to being an unmitigated disaster.
Neymar’s unsuccessful Santos return
Santos are one of the most famous clubs in Brazil, mainly due to Pelé and Neymar - the two record goalscorers for their country. The Sao Paulo club, however, have experienced significant hardship across the last decade and they are on the brink of severe peril, as explained by Thiago Rableo, Transfermarkt’s Brazilian football expert. “Santos is experiencing a serious financial and administrative crisis and will have a terrible final stretch to avoid relegation,” said Rabelo. “While other clubs are in positive prospects, Santos is one of the worst performing clubs. It seems like nothing is working for the club.”
Santos only returned to the Brazilian top-flight this season but they are in grave danger of being relegated from Série A. With just six games remaining, Santos are in the relegation zone, two points from safety and they face a daunting fixture list. They are winless in their last five games and they face leaders Palmeiras on Sunday. Neymar has been unable to inspire Santos with just six goals and three assists this season and Rabelo has detailed his struggles. “It's sad for Brazilian football, but Neymar is no longer the same and hasn't given any hope that he can return to even half of what he once was," said Rabelo. "His performances are very poor. Neymar can't make the same runs, he can't beat defenders, and he's coping very badly with his physical and technical decline. The team isn't helping either.”
The statistics only further highlight Neymar’s fall-off in recent years with injuries, sadly, contributing to his woes. Since the 2022 World Cup, Neymar has only played 43 games and his attacking output since leaving PSG has fallen off a cliff. At Barcelona and PSG, Neymar’s creativity was almost unrivalled with 223 goals and 155 assists for the two European giants. That worked out at an incredible 1.22 goal contribution per90 but that has dropped to just 0.56 g/an across his time at Al-Hilal and Santos.
Will Neymar make Brazil squad for the World Cup?
It’s no secret that Neymar’s major career ambition is to represent Brazil at the World Cup next summer. The Santos captain is Brazil’s top goalscorer but it currently looks extremely unlikely that he’ll make Carlo Ancelotti’s squad. The Italian manager has repeatedly stated that he won’t consider Neymar until he’s performing at a high level in a competitive league. The most expensive player in history’s contract expires in December and it’s understood he will leave Santos if they are relegated. The attacker will look to return to a major European league to preserve his World Cup ambitions but he’s shown little indication that he can perform at that level.
Current Brazil captain Casemiro, however, stated this week that Neymar must be in the squad - if he can find form. "For me, Neymar is indispensable for any national team squad,” said the Manchester United star. “If he’s in form, he would be very important for us for the World Cup. Neymar, he's a guy from another world. Neymar is incredible. And on a day-to-day basis, I know his staff well, he works very hard.”
