Just a few years ago, Neymar could easily be placed among the best players in the world. Nevertheless, in August 2023, the Brazilian put money above his sporting ambitions. For 90 million euros, he left Paris Saint-Germain and joined Al-Hilal. The Saudis literally showered him with gold, guaranteeing a horrendously high contract amounting to approximately EUR 200 million per year. Some sources even talked about an even higher contract.
Another Neymar drama. The club delivered terrible news
Why has he played only seven games for the new team, scoring three goals and making one assist? All because of the terrible knee injury in mid-October 2023. The former Barcelona player has been recovering for a whole year. After the injury, he played his first match only on October 21 last year. Then he entered the pitch for 14 minutes against Al-Ain (5:4) in the Asian Champions League.
Then he was absent again for two weeks, and at the beginning of November… he suffered another injury, this time to the hamstring. After further weeks of rehabilitation, Neymar returned to the pitch at the end of this year. He played in a friendly match against Al-Fayha. He even scored a goal, which was his first goal in 14 months. However, it was a sparring match, so the goal was not included in the official statistics.
During the described match, the 32-year-old also complained about muscle pain, but fortunately it ended with fear. Currently, Al-Hilal is training for the second part of the season. On Thursday afternoon, the club announced via social media that Neymar did not take part in the exercises. The reason was illness. “Neymar Jr. was unable to take part in today's team training due to abdominal pain,” it was reported.
As you can see, the problems of the 128-time Brazilian representative in Al-Hilal seem to have no end. His adventure in Saudi Arabia so far has been one big nightmare from the very beginning. After the winter break, the 32-year-old's first rival will be Al-Ittihad. Both teams will face each other in the quarterfinals of the national cup on January 7. It is not known whether Neymar will be fully healthy for this match.