By Adegboyega Adeleye
Brazil stars Neymar and Philippe Coutinho will finally play together at club level after Santos signed the former Liverpool and Barcelona midfielder for the rest of the season.
Coutinho, 34, joined Santos on a free transfer after leaving boyhood club Vasco da Gama in February, reuniting with Neymar, his close friend and former Brazil team-mate.
According to Reuters, the move marks the first time the pair will play together at club level, despite their long-standing friendship and spells with Brazil. Their time at Barcelona also did not overlap, as Neymar left for Paris Saint-Germain in August 2017 before Coutinho joined the Catalan club in January 2018.
Santos welcomed Coutinho with a video showing Neymar embracing him in the dressing room.
“If it’s a dream, I don’t want to wake up,” Neymar told Coutinho in the video.
The club also shared an old photograph of the two as teenagers alongside a new image of them recreating the pose.
Coutinho began his career at Vasco before moving to Inter Milan and later joining Liverpool in 2013.
He spent five years at Anfield, scoring 54 goals in 201 appearances before completing a £142 million move to Barcelona in 2018.
The midfielder later had spells with Bayern Munich, Aston Villa and Al-Duhail before returning to Vasco in 2024.
Coutinho left Vasco after making 81 appearances, saying he was “tired mentally”.
Neymar returned to Santos, his boyhood club, last year and announced his retirement from international football after Brazil’s exit from the 2026 World Cup in July.
Coutinho last represented Brazil in March 2022 and has not played for the national team since.
He will now wear the Santos shirt for the remainder of the season as the club competes domestically and in the Copa Sudamericana.
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