Palmeiras club President Leila Mejdalani Pereira has debunked rumors linking Brazil star Neymar to the club.
Neymar has experienced a remarkable downtrend in the past year. After six years at Ligue 1 giants, he joined the mass exodus of top players who were moving to the Saudi Arabian league.
The 32-year-old Brazilian joined Al Nassr in a deal worth €90 million, but it has turned out to be one of the worst deals in football history.
Since his transfer last August, Neymar has made just seven appearances. Last year, he made just five appearances before sustaining an anterior cruciate ligament injury. And that ruled him out of action for a year.
He returned to action in October, but he sustained another hamstring injury that would keep him out of action for about six weeks.
Due to his injury struggles, there have been talks linking him with a return to Brazil, with Palmeiras among the clubs mentioned. This is as his former club Santos were recently relegated and now ply their trade in Serie B, the second division of Brazilian football.
However, when queried on the issue, the president of Palmeiras, Leila gave a firm response. She insisted that the club would only sign players who are fit and ready to play.
“Neymar will not join Palmeiras, this club isn’t a medical department,” Leila said, per Fabrizio Romano.
“I want someone who will come to join immediately, who can play tomorrow if the manager wishes. I won’t accept us signing a player who’s unfit to play”.
Palmeiras currently sit second in the Brazilian Serie A, four points off leaders Botafogo RJ. They have won the last two Serie A titles.
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