It appears that Brazil football icon Neymar is considering a move stateside from Saudi Pro League club Al Hilal – with three MLS clubs in the running for his signature.
According to Jeff Carlisle of ESPN, Neymar is in preliminary discussions with three teams in the league.
Of the three clubs, the only one with reportable interest was the Chicago Fire – a team that finished second-bottom in the league and just hired former United States men’s national team head coach Gregg Berhalter as their manager.
ESPN also reported that Inter Miami is not among the teams interested in signing the 32-year-old Brazilian winger.
Inter Miami’s new boss, Javier Mascherano, said that it would be ‘impossible’ to sign Neymar considering the restrictions MLS has in place.
Despite this, ESPN sources in Brazil say the winger still has hope of reforming the ‘MSN’ front line with Lionel Messi and Luis Suarez with the Herons.
Al Hilal star Neymar is in discussions with at least three MLS sides over a possible US move
Lionel Messi’s Inter Miami is not believed to be one of the teams trying to sign the Brazilian star
Neymar has been dealing with a series of injuries since moving to the Saudi side in 2023
It’s been a rough spell in Saudi Arabia for Neymar, who has been hampered with multiple injuries since making a move in the summer of 2023 for $97.6million in the summer of 2023.
He tore his ACL while on international duty shortly after joining the team. Neymar then returned to the field in October before suffering a subsequent hamstring injury.
In total, Neymar has only made seven league appearances in the Saudi Pro League. He’s only scored one goal as well – in an AFC Champions League group stage match against Nassaji Mazandaran in October 2023.
In spite of the injuries, Neymar remains one of the most popular athletes in the sport worldwide – but especially in the Americas.
He began his career with Sao Paulo side Santos in 2009 – winning a Copa Libertadores crown in 2011 before jumping to Barcelona.
Alongside Messi, Suarez, and other fellow Barcelona-to-MLS players Jordi Alba and Sergio Busquets, Neymar won a UEFA Champions League crown, two La Liga titles, and three Copas del Rey between 2013-2017.
Neymar moved to French side Paris Saint-Germain in the summer of 2017 – winning five Ligue 1 titles, three Coupes des France, and two Coupes de la Ligue. Messi joined him there in the summer of 2021.
On the international stage, Neymar has made 128 appearances (second most behind Cafu) and scored 79 goals – the most of any Brazilian ever. He helped Brazil win a gold medal in football at the 2016 Rio Olympics.
