Getty Images Twelve years after being revealed in the Santos football team, Neymar has returned to the club as the new number 10. He terminated a two-year contract with Al Hilal, the team he played for, in Saudi Arabia, and agreed to earn 2% of his old salary.
The announcement of the signing of the contract with Santos was made on January 28, one day after Neymar’s former club confirmed the end of the 1.9 billion reais contract. To break the bond before the agreement, the player renounced 58.9 million reais. On January 31st, just before turning 33, Neymar was brought once again to Brazilian football and presented as a reinforcement for the beach-based black and white team for the next five months.
The football market estimates that the player’s new contract is worth one million reais per month, which when added to 90% of the amount generated from his image, should result in around 6 million reais per month.
The value takes Neymar off the list of the highest paid football players in the world, in which he previously occupied third place, and from being top of the Brazilian ranking list, of which he was part of for 12 years.
For Santos fans — and football fans — the return of one of the greatest players in the world is a reason for happiness and spending. Neymar’s presentation ceremony ended up on betting sites. The guess as to whether or not he would kiss the team’s shield paid double the amount invested to those who got it right. Furthermore, the athlete is already boosting the city’s tourism: since confirming his arrival, the search for bus tickets to Santos has increased by 200%, according to ClickBus.
| Neymar’s salaries (expert estimates, in reais, per month) 2004 – 2,5 thousand (Santos base team) 2012 – 250 thousand (Santos) 2013 – 7,8 million (Barcelona) 2017 – 26,6 million (PSG) 2023 – 79,1 million (Al Hilal) 2025 – 1 million (Santos) |
Sources: O Globo, Lance, CNN and Metrópoles.
