Rafael Nogueira
Neymar has dropped the biggest hint yet—he might walk away from football when 2025 ends.
The Brazil legend, now 34, told Brazilian channel Caze he’s living “year to year” and could call time in December. “I don’t know what will happen from now on,” he said. “It may be that when December comes, I’ll want to retire.”
His return to Santos—his boyhood club—from Al-Hilal in January 2025 was supposed to reignite his career. Instead, injuries have kept him sidelined for most of the season. Knee surgery in late December cost him the start of the Brazilian campaign, and he only returned to action last week.
“This year is very important—not only for Santos, but also for the national team. It’s a World Cup year, and for me too.”
Neymar remains Brazil’s all-time top scorer with 79 goals—two more than Pelé. Yet his last cap came in October 2023, and he admitted breaking into Carlo Ancelotti’s World Cup squad would be a “huge challenge.”
His £200m move from Barcelona to Paris Saint-Germain in 2017 still stands as the game’s most expensive transfer. But after years of battling injuries, the magic may finally be fading.