"Neymar wants to stay at Santos"

Neymar Jr. finishes his contract with Santos on 30 June. In January he returned home for just six months to get fit and look for a new challenge, but his physical condition has not respected him and now he wants to extend his stay in Brazil to put an end to his injury ordeal.

What will happen to the player is unknown, although his wish is official. As “o pai do craque” Neymar Silva Santos said in an interview for “ESPN”: "He wants to stay. At the time, Santos opened the door to Neymar so that he could recover".

"Ney needed to play, we knew he would have minor injuries. He was out for more than a year and a half and what we had to work on the most was his mind, we know his dream," said the 33-year-old striker's father, who he sees as happy: "He is living here again, happy, close to his friends and family."

"He's a very intense boy and he can't control himself. Now he is calmer and we are very happy. For the second half of the year we have a Neymar who is still focused on improving," he said, and acknowledged that there were "offers": "He was never out of any transfer window and this will be no exception".

However, the player and his entourage prefer him to remain at the “Peixe”: "We don't accept those offers because he wants to recover a bit more and reach his ideal level. Neymar is happy here, close to his loved ones. Santos is the right place for him to stay, but we have to coordinate a lot of things to make it work. Maintain his social and professional life, without losing the brand he has created, and have the demand that will lead him to achieve his goals".

Since arriving in January, Neymar has only been able to play 711 minutes in 12 games, the most in the Paulista (seven) in which he scored three goals and provided three assists. He was even called up to the Brazil squad in March, but an injury sidelined him for nearly a month. When he returned in April, he did not play 90 minutes and broke down again. At the end of May he reappeared and was controversially sent off against Botafogo for deliberately scoring a goal with his hand.