(FILES) Hilal's Brazilian forward #10 Neymar controls the ball as he warms up ahead of the AFC Champions League group B football match between UAE's Al-Ain and Saudi's Al-Hilal at the Hazza bin Zayed Stadium in al-Ain on October 21, 2024. (Photo by Adel AL-NAIMI / AFP)
Paris: Brazilian star Neymar on Monday ended his injury-plagued 18 month stay in Saudi Arabia as his club, Al Hilal said they had "agreed to terminate the player's contract by mutual consent".
"The club expresses its thanks and appreciation to Neymar for what he has provided throughout his career with Al Hilal, and wish the player success in his career," said a club statement posted on social media.
The 32-year-old former Barcelona and Paris Saint-Germain forward played just seven times since joining the club in August 2023, despite a reported salary of around $104 million a year.
Neymar, the subject of what is still the biggest transfer in football history when he joined Paris Saint-Germain from Barcelona in 2017 for a fee of 220 million euros ($230 million at), joined Al Hilal in August 2023.
He followed fellow superstars Cristiano Ronaldo and Karim Benzema to the lucrative Saudi league.
But two months after his arrival in Riyadh, he ruptured a cruciate ligament in his left knee while playing for Brazil in a World Cup qualifier in October 2023, which kept him on the sidelines for a year.
He returned for Al Hilal with two brief appearances in October and November but injured a hamstring and has not played since. He said he is targeting the World Cup.
The club's coach Jorge Jesus said recently: "He can no longer play at the level we are used to. Things have become difficult for him, unfortunately."
Earlier in January, Neymar said he was aiming to play in the 2026 in the US, Canada and Mexico.
