Neymar Junior eyeing summer return to Barcelona

Earlier this year, Neymar Junior brought his nightmare Al Hilal spell to an end, as he joined boyhood club Santos on a six-month contract. He took a massive wage cut to return to Brazil, and in doing so, it could set him up to join another of his former clubs during the summer transfer window.

Over the last few years, Neymar has regularly been linked with a return to Barcelona, whom he left in 2017 to join Paris Saint-Germain for a world-record transfer fee. Many saw his career as having gone downhill from that moment, and with that in mind, he could end up returning to the summit later in 2025.

According to Cadena SER, Neymar only intends to stay at Santos until the summer, as his goal is to make a return to European football. For him, the ideal situation would be to re-join Barcelona.

The idea of Neymar during his short spell at Santos is to show the big clubs in Europe, including Barcelona, that he is still more than good enough to compete at the highest level. He also has his eyes on cementing a place in the Brazil national team squad for the 2026 World Cup, which takes place in North America.

It has become something of a running joke that Neymar is constantly linked with a move back to Barcelona, although on this occasion, there does appear to be some chances that it could happen.

Barcelona sporting director Deco is keen for the club to bring in a new left winger, and if the 33-year-old were to be willing to remain on similar wages to what he is currently earning at Santos, it would also make an operation more likely to be considered, given that the Catalans cannot afford to spend too much on wages because of their well-documented financial problems.