The 32-year-old former Barcelona and Paris Saint-Germain forward played just seven times since joining the club in August 2023.

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 (US$230 million), joined Al-Hilal in August 2023.

But two months after his arrival in Riyadh, he ruptured a cruciate ligament in his left knee while playing for Brazil in a FIFA 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.

While Neymar had been courted by MLS teams in the United States, reports in Brazil said Santos, the club where Neymar made his name in his now fading career, was in talks for him to return to his homeland.

A return to Brazil would likely be the last chance for a player who is his country's all-time leading scorer with 79 goals in 127 matches.