Inside Neymar’s £130m year without football

A ruptured ACL and a soap-opera split from the mother of his newborn child – the back end of 2023 was nightmarish for Neymar. 

On October 17 last year, he collapsed while playing for Brazil against Uruguay and howled in agony. A buggy drove onto the pitch to cart him away. Al-Hilal executives who had forked out £78million on him just two months before and handed him a contract worth £260m held their breath. They’re still holding it now.

Four days earlier, the big story was that a fan lobbed popcorn at him after a 1-1 draw with Venezuela. The Brazilian was so irate that he was on the verge of boycotting the Uruguay game. If only a couple more kernels had been tossed, life may have been very different. 

An ACL injury is one of the worst a footballer can suffer and he had damaged the meniscus in his left knee for good measure. At the time he was deemed a doubt for the 2024 Copa America. He has missed it by three months. Tonight he is expected to play for Al-Hilal as they travel to Al Ain in the Asian Champions League, the culmination of a year of pain and anxiety and personal strife. 

This is the story of Neymar’s year ‘off’ involving a break-up and reunion, newfound fatherhood amid an OnlyFans scandal, a year splashing the cash on flash cars and partying with David Beckham, but also being mocked for his body shape and his poker prediliction. A year of ‘suffering every day,’ as he put it. 

Neymar’s anterior cruciate ligament injury in October last year could not have come at a worse time. 

By the end of November, the Brazil icon had split from his girlfriend Bruna Biancardi to prying public attention. They had only just had a daughter, Mavie, on October 7.  

Rumours of him being unfaithful swirled. Neymar had faced accusations of cheating on Biancardi with compromising footage emerging of him partying with two different women in a Spanish nightclub.

A report in German tabloid Bild claimed he and Biancardi had a bizarre sex contract that allowed Neymar to flirt and sleep with other women – so long as it remained secret.

So much for that. Brazilian OnlyFans star Aline Farias leaked x-rated messages purportedly showing Neymar begging for nudes. He said the messages were from years before. 

But he was also dogged by further allegations of infidelity with influencer Fernanda Campos. Oh, and a former Hungarian model claiming he was the father of her 10-year-old daughter and demanding over £25,000 per month plus backdated payments if a test proved he was the father. Reports suggest he is still yet to sign up for the paternity test. 

It all resulted in Neymar posting a grovelling apology on social media to his girlfriend Biancardi, or ‘Bru’ as he would call her. 

‘Bru. I do this for both of you and your family. Justify the unjustifiable. No need to. But I need you in OUR lives,’ he wrote on Instagram. 

‘I saw how much you were exposed, how much you suffered with all of this and how much you want to be by my side. And I stand beside you. I did wrong with you all. I risk saying I’m wrong every day, on and off the pitch. Only I solve my mistakes in personal life at home, in my intimacy with my family and friends.

‘All of this hit one of the most special people in my life. The woman I dreamed of following beside me, mother of my child.

‘Bru, I already apologised for my mistakes, for unnecessary exposure, but I feel obligated to come publicly reaffirm that. If a private matter has become public, the apology has to be public. Can’t imagine (being) without you. I don’t know if we’ll work out, but TODAY you’re sure I want to try.

‘Our purpose will prevail, our love for our baby will win, our love for each other will make us stronger. ALWAYS US. I love you.’

Did all that blarney work? Seemingly not. Not at the time, anyway. It was all too much for Biancardi to take. 

And yet against all of this salacious context, Neymar and Biancardi have ended up back together. 

In April he posted a glowing birthday message for her, calling her ‘amazing’ and ‘beautiful’. Over the summer she visited his institute in Praia Grande where he is helping children in vulnerable circumstances. They’ve been to the seaside in Saudi Arabia and a recent snap shows them both in beachwear with his arm wrapping over her shoulder, their hands touching near her waist. 

Then the kiss on October 12. The post suggesting, as fuel for rumour mills across the internet, that they were back together – and what a joy for baby Mavie if true. 

So things are perhaps more stable than he would have predicted. All the same, it’s been a tortured road back.

Returning from an ACL injury is a long haul, especially at the age of 32. Months of tender exercises and therapy to reduce the agony and swelling, restore the knee’s full flexibility, and re-strengthen the muscles. Neymar needed surgery to repair his ACL as well as meniscus injuries in his left knee. 

Neymar was finally back on the grass in February but an unflattering photo had fans ribbing him for seeming out of shape. It’s a fate the likes of Romelu Lukaku and Gonzalo Higuain have faced down the years, and not even a star of Neymar’s ilk could escape it. 

People are always quick to mock. In April, he was hounded online for playing poker at a party to celebrate his daughter’s half-birthday. ‘Six months of the most beautiful princess,’ he wrote. ‘This guy’s finished,’ said one fan. In fact, he’s only just getting started – he plans to be a professional poker player once he’s hung up his boots. 

There has been some fun, though. In a way, his year out has allowed him a glimpse of the life to come after retirement.

In February Neymar bought a £270,000 signature Rolls-Royce Ghost – or a ‘new child’, as he called it. Add that to his Aston Martin and Bentley and Lamborghini and the three luxury cars he asked for as part of his package at Al-Hilal, and his garage could host its own GP. 

A month later he attended the Bahrain F1 GP before going out for drinks in Miami with David and Victoria Beckham and threw the ceremonial first pitch at the Miami Marlins’ MLB season opener.

Neymar and David were tagged in a picture with David Grutman, the owner of several restaurants in Miami including Gekko, where they spent their Wednesday night. Gekko, a Japanese steakhouse and sushi restaurant, is a celebrity hotspot in Miami, the sort of haunt he might have more time and freedom to attend when the demands of a football career dissipate.

Then, only last week, he popped up at Saudi Arabia’s ‘6 Kings Slam’ tennis tournament and even caught up with Rafael Nadal. But his attendance did not go down well with the fans.

After coming out onto the court, he was booed loudly from fans assembled in the 8,000-seat purpose built-arena, which was creatively named ‘The Venue’. 

There were even audible chants of ‘Ronaldo! Ronaldo’ with Cristiano Ronaldo being a huge success in Saudi Arabia after his move to Al-Nassr – something Neymar has not had a chance to replicate.

And so we arrive at today. Neymar broke down in tears when discussing what this return means to him. 

‘What I want most in life is to play football. I have suffered every day I’ve been away from the pitch. This is what hurts me the most,’ he said. 

This will only be Neymar’s sixth appearance for Al-Hilal. He’ll now find himself playing with Joao Cancelo, a summer addition, and his goal is to help them win the title again with another invincible season. 

‘I am focused on the most important people in my life, my family and friends, and football,’ he added.

‘I have risen every time I have been injured. 

‘But I don’t return halfway.’