He Was Once On Top of the Football World… And Now Neymar is Single-Handedly Dragging His Side to Safety

Once tipped for footballing greatness, Neymar's career promised stardom. From tearing up the Brazilian first division, to career-defining moments for some of the world's biggest clubs like FC Barcelona and PSG. He was often tipped for the highest honours, the Ballon d'Or among them. But football is a cruel game, and talent doesn't always win.

Brazil's golden boy for the last decade experienced a career full of injuries, including that notable back injury for Brazil in the 2014 World Cup. Neymar recently experienced a knee injury in 2023, and after a long road back, he returned to his boyhood club Santos FC in early 2025, hoping to reignite his career.

The return sparked optimism: a chance to rewrite the narrative, to prove that despite past setbacks, the magic and the goals might still flow. For a player who has already experienced every injury there is, a meniscus tear was never going to get in the way of a 'fairy-tale return'. With Neymar's boyhood club Santos sitting in the relegation zone after 36 games, Neymar, like the rest of his career, was going to take his own path despite the words of the doctors.

A Fairy-Tale Survival?

Tearing his meniscus with just three games left in the season, the hopes and dreams of all Santos fans lay no longer in the hands of Neymar Jr, or so everyone thought. Neymar suited up for Santos just nine days after the injury, picking up a goal and an assist in a crucial three-nil win over Sport Recife. A performance that looked like it could not be topped was outshone just four days later.

Neymar took to the pitch away at Juventude, a game that, if Santos won, would take them out of the relegation zone and set them up for survival in the top flight. A slow first half left fans nervous, thinking it would come down to the last game on the 7th of December. Neymar had other ideas. 16 minutes into the second half, he gave Santos the lead through a deflected finish from just inside the box.

Santos and Neymar weren't done there; just ten minutes later, Neymar found his second, a calm left-footed finish under the keeper, setting Santos well on their way to survival. Seven minutes later Santos were awarded a penalty, and who else but Neymar Jr stepped up and grabbed his hat-trick in just 17 minutes?

Neymar is currently playing with a meniscus injury in his knee which will require surgery at the end of the season.

Doctors told him not to play on but Santos were in a relegation battle.

He’s just scored a 17 minute hat-trick to give Santos safety. pic.twitter.com/vdWsUqNlEX

— george (@StokeyyG2) December 4, 2025

For 17 minutes, the footballing world saw the old Neymar, the player who was once tipped to take over from the likes of Messi and Ronaldo, to make football his own. These moments of magic now see Santos sit two points above the relegation zone, with just one game remaining, a game at home to third-place Cruzeiro. Neymar will be set to fight through his injury one final time before surgery at the end of the season.

Neymar Jr's Legacy

If you once imagined Neymar lifting the Ballon d’Or, lifting club trophies, and dazzling in Champions Leagues, then 2025 is undeniably a bitter pill. The recurring injuries, the constant rehab, and the unpredictability all chip away at what might have been. Sports careers aren’t always about glory: sometimes they’re about endurance or about refusing to quit, words that epitomise Neymar.

Neymar's story is one like no other, a player set for the highest of highs. In 2013, Neymar made the move to Barcelona, a transfer that launched him into the limelight. At Barcelona, he didn’t simply join a team; he joined an era. Playing alongside Lionel Messi and Luis Suárez, he formed one of the most devastating attacking trios ever seen. In the 2014/15 season, Barcelona completed a treble, and Neymar was at the heart of it, scoring in the Champions League final and announcing himself as a genuine Ballon d’Or contender. Many believed the award would eventually be his once Messi and Cristiano Ronaldo loosened their grip.

But the next chapter of his career was more complicated. In 2017, Neymar made a record-breaking move to Paris Saint-Germain, stepping out from Messi’s shadow in search of individual glory. At PSG, he delivered moments of brilliance, breathtaking skills and vital Champions League knockout performances. At his peak in Paris, he played football with a level of improvisation and artistry matched by almost no one. The issue was never his talent: it was availability, with injuries arriving at the worst possible moments, a feat that has followed him his entire career.

A small stint in Saudi Arabia followed, signing for Al-Hilal in a blockbuster move as the Saudi Pro League began attracting global superstars. The transfer was more than financial: it was a statement. Neymar became the face of a rising project alongside Cristiano Ronaldo.

Yet again, fate struck hard. Early in his Al-Hilal career, he suffered a major knee injury that sidelined him for nearly a year. Though he returned in 2024, his time in Saudi Arabia was ultimately short-lived, playing just seven games in two seasons, a record that summed up his career. In 2025, he chose a romantic return, joining Santos, the club where it all began, hoping to rewrite the ending of his story on Brazilian soil, leading us to where we are now.

As Neymar Jr's story comes to an end, it is clear that his legacy won’t be measured by trophies alone, but by the moments of magic he produced, the millions of kids he inspired and the joy which he brought to everyone who watched him play.