Neymar Jr. raised eyebrows when he decided to move to Saudi Arabian club Al-Hilal. Paris Saint-Germain reportedly received €90 million for the Brazilian to continue his career outside Europe.
The 31-year-old signed a two-year contract, but one pundit believes that the player won’t see out his deal with Al-Hilal. Neymar is likely entering his final FIFA World Cup cycle with Brazil.
After Neymar scored a brace in Brazil’s 5-1 win over Bolivia on Friday in CONMEBOL’s World Cup qualifying match. The 2026 World Cup is on the horizon, and ESPN FC’s Luis Garcia believes that the 2015 UEFA Champions League winner has to be challenged.
“If I’m honest, I’m not sure if he’s going to stay there for the whole contract,” Garcia said on ESPN FC. “Because definitely, it’s quite tricky to be the personality that Neymar has got to know that to be in Barcelona, Paris, Brazil, top a scorer and arrive to a league where I think the way that you can see it today.
“Dribbling, passing the ball, dropping the shoulder, arriving to that kind of league is going to be a nightmare because he needs a challenge. He needs someone who can give it a challenge if ever you can because, for him, it’s going to be to play with kids, play around, [and] play with some friends because, for him, football is on a different level.
“So if you arrive to this kind of competition where you are not being challenged, if you have to switch on for a World Cup, switch on for the top and play against the highest standards, it’s going to be very difficult.”
Neymar probably knows that the World Cup in North America will be his last chance at winning the trophy and ending Brazil’s drought. As a result, he needs to be in top shape with his preparation, which is why he only signed a two-year contract. However, could he leave sooner? It will be interesting to see this situation play out.
