Brazil and Barcelona legend Neymar 'eager to rejoin former club' following Saudi injury hell

The Brazilian played just five matches after his big-money move to Al-Hilal last year before rupturing his ACL and missing 12 months of action.

As Brazil's all-time record goalscorer, Neymar was one of numerous glittering names that made the move to the Saudi Pro League last year, including Cristiano Ronaldo, Karim Benzema and Sadio Mane.

Following that injury hell, Neymar returned midway through October, but will now miss another four-to-six weeks after being forced off against Esteghlal in the AFC Champions League earlier this week.

Neymar seeking Saudi exit

Brazilian outlet UOL claim that Neymar is willing to terminate his contract at Al-Hilal in order to make a swift exit and return to his homeland.

That is despite the 32-year-old reportedly earning roughly €150m-per-year (£125m), and Al-Hilal forking out €90m (£75m) to sign him from Paris Saint-Germain just over a year ago.

The report states that yet another injury setback is pushing Neymar closer to a return home, after an awful spell of misfortune since moving to the Gulf State.

Neymar's father has maintained a strong relationship with the board at Santos, and is believed to be brokering a deal that will see his son entitled to sponsorship deals if he joins.

Can Neymar resurrect his fading career?

Santos have almost sealed promotion back to the Brazilian top flight, one year after suffering relegation for the first time in their history.

As well as improvement on the pitch, in order to further incentivise Neymar to return, the club are looking to offset some of the losses he will make in cancelling his Saudi contract, while also signing players the 32-year-old will recommend himself.

It is believed the club are looking to bring Ganso from Fluminense, Gabriel Barbosa from Flamengo, Almeria's Leo Baptistao and Brazil captain Danilo, while also scoping out the possibility of hiring Jorge Sampaoli as manager.

With the World Cup on the horizon in 2026, Neymar has been out of the Brazil picture since his move to Saudi, but has reportedly not given up on his ambition of making the squad for another finals.

If Neymar can replicate even half of his achievements from his first spell at Santos, where he scored 136 goals in 225 games and won the Copa Libertadores, then a call up would be very likely for the nation's record goalscorer.