Santos president Marcelo Teixeira is confident Neymar will extend his stay at the club at least until the 2026 World Cup.
The Brazilian forward made an emotional return to his boyhood club last month, joining on a short-term deal until the end of the season.
After a slow start, the 33-year-old has begun to show form reminiscent of that which made him so beloved during his first spell with the side. The former Barcelona and Paris Saint-Germain winger has five goal contributions in his last three matches as he continues to make strides to full fitness after a torrid recent injury history.
Speculation has been rife over the Brazilian’s future, with a potential return to Catalonia mooted, but Teixeira has insisted that Neymar could remain with the side until next year’s World Cup.
‘With Neymar’s arrival, we have 75,000 members,’ he told ESPN. ‘Today, we can measure what is related to the technical aspect, what represents the financial aspect.
‘All financial objectives will be increased, above what we previously estimated. If everything goes well, the tendency is for this partnership to continue and be expanded until next year’s World Cup.’
Santos president Marcelo Teixeira is confident Neymar will extend his stay at the club at least until the 2026 World Cup
The Brazilian has been in improved form of late with five goal contributions in his last three matches
The Brazilian formed part of an iconic front three at Barcelona alongside Luis Suarez and Lionel Messi
His comments come a day after Neymar reminded the world of his immense talent by scoring a directly from a corner kick in Santos’ 3-0 win away at Internacional de Limeira.
The forward had already assisted Tiquinho Soares for the game’s opening goal on nine minutes when he strode over to the side of the pitch to take a corner.
As he walked towards the corner flag, Neymar was targeted with boos and jeers from the home supporters.
The veteran appeared to revel in his role as the pantomime villain and before taking the corner he put his hand to his ear before encouraging the fans to boo him even louder.
Seconds later, Neymar whipped in a brilliant delivery that narrowly evaded the goalkeeper before landing in the back of the net via the far post.
The booing instantly stopped and was replaced by the sound of Santos fans screaming in delight.
Neymar had previously netted 136 senior goals for Santos between 2009 and 2013 before leaving Brazil for Barcelona.
He scored 105 goals in 186 appearances for Barca, followed by 118 in 173 outings for PSG, while he has also produced 79 in 128 for Brazil at international level.
However, his 18-month stint at Al Hilal was blighted by injury issues and he scored just one goal in seven games for the Saudi side.
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