After six years of a very eventful marriage with PSG, Neymar put an end to his Parisian adventure by spinning at Al-Hilal, which gives him a golden bridge to join other stars like Cristiano Ronaldo, Karim Benzema or Sadio Mané in the wealthy Saudi championship. The announcement of the transfer was made on video by the Saudi club on the social network X, formerly Twitter. “I’m here in Saudi Arabia, I’m from Al-Hilal,” said the 31-year-old Brazilian in English, wearing the blue jersey of his new club.
Arrived in 2017 for a record amount
“It’s always difficult to say goodbye to a player as exceptional as Neymar, one of the best in the world,” said PSG president Nasser Al-Khelaïfi in a statement released by the club. capital city.
Arrived as a rock star in 2017 from FC Barcelona for the record sum of 222 million euros, the Brazilian number 10 (31) had nevertheless become undesirable in Paris over seasons marked by a litany of injuries and extra escapades – sports. Pushed towards the exit, he accepted the golden proposal from Saudi Arabia where Al-Hilal would have offered him a salary of “100 million euros per season”, according to a source close to the negotiations. The club announced that the contract was for two seasons.
The influence of Kylian Mbappe
For its part, PSG is far from recovering its bet but will still pocket nearly 90 million euros and thus make the sale the biggest sale in its history. Neymar’s situation cannot be completely dissociated from that of Kylian Mbappé, who had made the Brazilian’s departure one of the conditions for the renewal of his contract in 2022. The announcement of his signing in Saudi Arabia comes at the very moment when the champion World Cup 2018 has begun a reconciliation with PSG after a severe contractual showdown.
In sporting terms, the Neymar period is a huge mess. Bruised by the “remontada” against Barça in the round of 16 second leg of the Champions League in 2017, PSG and Qatar thought they had struck a blow by offering themselves in quick succession the summer following the prodigy of Seleçao and Kylian Mbappe.
But the former Santos player, who had formed the famous MSN in Catalonia with Lionel Messi and Luis Suarez and won the C1 in 2015, only intermittently met the expectations of his leaders. With 118 goals and 70 assists in 173 games in all competitions, his record is far from paltry but he failed to take PSG to the top in the Champions League, Bayern Munich having shattered their dreams in the final in 2020.
New physical glitches
It’s as if the transplant had never really caught on between the Brazilian with extraordinary talent and the Parisian public. From 2019, barely two years after his arrival, Neymar had wanted to leave the capital to return to FC Barcelona but the leaders of PSG had vetoed before extending his contract until 2027. The situation changed last year. with the rise of Mbappé within the club and the appointment of Luis Campos as “football adviser”. PSG therefore opened the door to a departure, which could not materialize due to the player’s exorbitant salary, estimated at 30 million euros gross per year.
The Brazilian’s new ankle injury and then the operation suffered last March only reinforced Paris in its desire to part with the striker, despite an excellent first part of the 2022-2023 season. After a lackluster financial year barely saved by obtaining an 11th league title, PSG is also determined to regenerate its workforce as evidenced by the case of Marco Verratti, history of the Qatari era and close to being sold. .
Neymar also got used to the idea of a transfer after being the target of Parisian ultras, some of whom went to demonstrate in front of his home in Bougival in May. An episode that deeply shocked him and definitively recorded his divorce from PSG. “The Saudi League has huge energy and a lot of quality players at the moment. Al-Hilal is a great club, their fans are fantastic, they are the best in Asia. It makes me feel like I have taken the right decision,” the Brazilian said in a statement from his new club.