‘The prince who never became king’ – Neymar returns to Santos

Neymar’s return to his boyhood club, Santos, is complete.

One of Brazil’s greatest footballing exports, and still the world’s most expensive player, has signed a six-month contract that brings him back to Vila Belmiro.

The 32-year-old’s return home came after his contract with Saudi Pro League side Al-Hilal was terminated on January 27, closing the chapter of his strained and ultimately unfulfilling stint in the Middle East.

“He was desperate to come back to Santos”, said BBC Sport’s Spanish football expert Guillem Balague.

Santos was eager to re-enter Neymar as well. According to reports, they persuaded Pele to resign using an AI-generated voice in a video.

What will Neymar bring to Santos, though?

As Balague said: “Everyone knows where he is now with his relationship to football”.

On TikTok or YouTube, look up the nickname and you’ll find a plethora of compilations of Neymar’s best moments.

These are not just highlight reels of goals – there are montages of dazzling dribbles, rainbow flicks, and nutmegs.

A celebration of ‘ Joga Bonito’, the Brazilian ethos of ‘ playing]football] beautifully’, Neymar’s game encapsulated the spirit of football as art.

Add to that the numerous hairstyles and nose tape, and his entire aesthetic has helped to strengthen a football culture and lineage that some thought might lose when Ronaldinho, the country’s counterpart, faded from view.

By the time Neymar left Santos in 2013 for Barcelona, the then 21-year-old had scored 136 goals in 225 appearances, won the 2011 Puskas Award for a breathtaking goal against Flamengo and finished in the top 10 of the Ballon d’Or award in the same year.

“He’s a lovely person – childlike in many ways – but surrounded by good people, and he loved Barcelona”, Balague said.

Neymar shined in what many consider to be one of the best forward lines in football history under the bright lights of the Nou Camp.

In a front three with Messi and Luis Suarez, he helped to deliver two La Liga titles, three Copa del Reys, and a Champions League trophy.

Neymar acted in a position that gave him the freedom to develop both his talent and flair.

“He had to play in that position because of Suarez and Messi”, Balague explained.

“At the time, he didn’t realise that being just a left winger would bring out his best”.

In the 2015-16 season, the so-called MSN trio combined for 131 goals and 65 assists, dismantling defences with pace, precision, and audacity.

Neymar was performing on the biggest stage, but it seemed like a dream to defeat his current teammate Messi to become the best player in the world. The untouchable star of the show was Messi, who played a supporting role alongside Neymar and everyone else.

Balague remarked, “Barcelona’s incredible Champions League comeback victory against Paris St-Germain, which finished 6-1 in March 2017, was the day he realized he had to leave.”

He was the best player on the field, but the main image was Messi, who had scored two goals and received an assist for the sixth goal. He became aware that he would not be able to capture Barcelona’s number one spot.

PSG paid a world-record €222m (£200m) fee that remains unsurpassed to this day.

Neymar frequently operated with more freedom, shifting into a key position where he planned attacks and created from more powerful positions.

More commercial obligations were added to the pitch, which also benefited from more freedom.

” His love for the game was taken from him in Paris, he became an industry, “Balague said.

” In fact, when he was at PSG, his contract said he could dedicate days to training and others to commercial opportunities.

“After that his head started going in different directions. He would not be able to train properly until three in the morning, but he would have a genius idea on a matchday.

Neymar won numerous domestic titles during his time in Paris, but it failed to achieve PSG’s defining European triumph.

The Brazilian played the entire 90 minutes in the 2020 Champions League final after losing to Bayern Munich with a score of 1-0.

Although Neymar’s individual brilliance occasionally soared, his time spent in Paris was largely defined by injuries and off-field distractions.

Tensions grew, too, as the arrival of Kylian Mbappe and previous team-mate Lionel Messi complicated Neymar’s role in the team.

Speaking on a podcast with Brazil legend Romario, Neymar said: “I have my things with Kylian Mbappe. We fought a little, but he was fundamental for us. I always helped him, talked to him, but when Messi came, he got a little jealous”.

In August 2023, at the age of 31, Neymar joined Al-Hilal in Saudi Arabia on a reported €150m (£129m) annual deal.

That was roughly six times as much as his French counterparts had been paid.

However, a serious knee injury while playing for Brazil prevented Neymar from playing for the emerging league for much of his time there.

The Saudi side only had him play seven games.

On BBC Radio 5 Live, South American football expert Tim Vickery stated that “His goal was to stay with Al-Hilal for another six months and participate in the Club World Cup this summer.”

“That was supposed to be a huge billboard to the football world that said: ‘ I’m back baby. ‘”

He’s back all right – but back in Brazil. Neymar has since been relegated to Brazil’s top division by Santos.

Neymar’s presence could be significant for Santos and Brazil’s national team, which he last represented in October 2023 when his left knee ruptured in a match against Uruguay.

Neymar might have had a better international career if injuries had prevented him from surpassing Pele to become Brazil’s top scorer.

He sat out the semi-final of the 2014 World Cup in Belo Horizonte, Brazil’s successful 2019 Copa America campaign and two out of five games in the 2022 World Cup.

Neymar is an inspiration to this generation’s hottest young stars, with Barcelona’s teenage winger Lamine Yamal having posed in a Santos shirt bearing the superstar’s name.

“He is loved by players and is Yamal’s hero because he did things no other players could”, said Balague.

The ‘ prince ‘ may not have quite claimed the throne, but his influence on football culture persists.

And perhaps one more crucial chapter of the Neymar story needs to be told.

Here we have a footballer, not yet a veteran, with the talent to take himself, his club and his country to the very top – a regal talent still targeting a coronation moment.