Rio de Janeiro, May 3 (IANS) Santos president Marcelo Teixeira said the club is working to extend Neymar’s contract until next year’s FIFA World Cup, despite the forward’s ongoing injury concerns.
Neymar rejoined Santos – his boyhood club – on a six-month contract in January after more than a decade in Europe and a stint in Saudi Arabia, reports Xinhua.
“We have to explore a technical way so that we can transform the monitoring of Neymar’s recovery and his presence on the field into a greater chance of him being able to renew his contract and stay until next year’s World Cup,” Teixeira said.
Neymar has struggled with a series of leg muscle problems since returning to action last October following a knee injury that sidelined him for more than a year. The 33-year-old has played just nine games in his latest spell with Santos, scoring three goals and providing three assists.
“When we brought Neymar back, we knew that he had suffered a very serious injury,” Teixeira said. “Knowing this, we made all of our staff available to Neymar and put a structure in place so that he could make a full recovery. He is happy here. This is his home.”
Santos is currently 19th in the 20-team Brazilian Serie A standings with four points from six games. The club this week appointed former Brazil assistant coach Cleber Xavier as its new manager following the departure of Pedro Caixinha.
In his first press conference, Xavier said Neymar was unlikely to return to the left wing, the position in which he rose to prominence at Barcelona.
“He played on that side (the left) at Barcelona and with the national team but now he is more suited to an attacking midfielder role,” Xavier said.
“Tite (former Brazil boss Adenor Bacchi) called him a bow and an arrow at the same time because he organises and also finishes the attacking moves. He has played like that for a long time and I see him doing that here too.”
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