Goodbye Neymar, Al-Hilal's final decision that the Brazilian star regrets

Neymar Jr. left Paris Saint-Germain this summer by decision of the club's chiefs, who considered his time in France to be over. While his intention was to return to Barcelona, he eventually agreed to join Al-Hilal, who paid PSG almost $100 million and offered him a multi-million dollar contract.

His arrival in Saudi Arabia caused great expectation among fans, who were excited to welcome one of the best players in the world. However, things did not go as expected. Ney arrived at Al-Hilal with an injury that prevented him from playing the first few games of the season. He then had to travel to South America to join the Brazil national team for the international break in September and upon his return he played a few games for his new club. But in October he traveled again for the matches against Venezuela and Uruguay in the South American qualifiers for the 2026 World Cup.

In the second of these matches, the forward suffered a serious knee injury and had to undergo surgery. The recovery will take at least 6 months, so he will not play again in 2023. His return could happen before the end of the season, but now he will have a new problem.

According to Arriyadiyah, Al-Hilal are considering removing Neymar from the list of players registered in Pro League. This is because coach Jorge Jesus wants to add a left-back and, in order to do so, he needs to free up a place in the squad. The tournament rules state that clubs cannot have more than 8 foreign players, a number that Al-Hilal have already reached, and as Ney will be out of the field for a long time, they could replace him.

When will he be back?

If Neymar's recovery from surgery goes well, he may be able to return to the field before the end of the 2023/24 season. If Al-Hilal decide to remove him from the squad, he will not be able to play in the Pro League, but he will do his best to be at the Copa America to be played in the United States next summer.