Sports
Neymar, Coutinho reunite at Santos for first-ever club partnership
Brazilian stars Neymar and Philippe Coutinho are set to become club teammates for the first time after Santos completed the signing of the former Liverpool and Barcelona midfielder until the end of the season.
Coutinho, 34, joined Santos as a free agent after leaving Vasco da Gama, the club where he began his career, in February.
His move to Santos reunites him with Neymar, his close friend and former Brazil teammate, after years of playing together for the national team.
According to Reuters, the reunion is historic because the two players have never shared a club dressing room despite their close relationship and international partnership.
Their paths also failed to cross at Barcelona. Neymar left the Spanish giants for Paris Saint-Germain in August 2017, while Coutinho arrived at 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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Neymar, Coutinho reunite at Santos for first-ever club partnership
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